June 12, 2025 • 30 mins
JJ Stankevitz is joined by Penn State head coach James Franklin for an inside look at Tyler Warren's college career, from how he was recruited to Happy Valley to how Franklin and his coaching staff were able to use the Colts' first-round pick in so many different ways in 2024. Franklin also discusses how Warren's team-first, low-maintenance mentality became one of the biggest reasons why he believes Warren will thrive with the Colts.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hey Colts fans, I'm JJ Sankerbitz. Welcome into another episode
of The Colt Show, an Indianapolis Colts podcast. Today I
had a chance to chat with Penn State head coach
James Franklin. As you would expect, we talked all about
Tyler Warren, the kind of person the cult are getting,
the kind of player the cults are getting, all the
crazy ways that Penn State was able to use him
(00:24):
in their offense. Really good chat. I learned a lot
from talking to James Franklin about him, and look, it's hard.
It was hard for me to not listen to this
and feel excited about how the Colts can use him,
how Shane Steichen can use Tyler Warren this upcoming season.
I can have the mail bag, the Colt Show mail
bag coming up after this chat with James Franklin, which
we will get to right now here on The Colt Show.
(00:45):
It is my pleasure to be welcomed here on The
Colt Show by Penn State head coach James Franklin. Who
better to dive into Tyler Warren with than the guy
who's were around him the most for the last four years. Coach,
Thanks for joining us. Here in the show.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Oh yeah, I appreciate the opportunity obviously getting a chance
as to talk about Tyler. You guys are gonna love him,
so appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
How transformative was Tyler for your program last year? I know,
you know, you guys had the highest finish in the
College football playoff rankings, highest finish in the AP rankings
in twenty years. I know it takes a whole team.
Obviously football is a team sport. But Tyler doing what
he did with those thirteen touchdowns and just maybe the
gravitational effect he had on Penn State's offense. Like, how
(01:33):
transformational was that last year?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah? Obviously, you know, you know, when you're in this
type of situation and playing in the games that we're
playing in, you got to get your best players the ball.
And for us, it became very obvious, you know, as
the year went on, at any time we put Tyler
in a position to make a play, he was gonna
(01:57):
make it. And whether that was as a receiver, or
whether that was running behind him blocking, or whether that
was him playing wildcat quarterback or quarterback sneaks or double
passes or whatever it may be, we just found creative
ways to get them the ball, and he really thrived
and flourished in all of them. And I think the
(02:20):
other point that you're making is also the stuff that
people don't see just a way from the media or
away from the games on TV, is the impact on
his teammates in the locker room. I mean, Tyler's high,
high production and low maintenance guy, he said. I think
(02:43):
in the five years that I was with him, I
think he said like seventeen words and just a very appreciative,
humble young man, got a great mom and dad, and
it's really is really just thrived in so many different
roles for us here at Penn State.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Something that really stood out to me when I had
a chance to sit down with Tyler the day after
he got drafted, and I asked him about the USC game, right,
you know, seventeen catches, you break a school record, you
win that game, and I was like, what's your maybe
favorite memory from that game, and he said it was
running out of the field with his teammates after the
game winning field goal. So it had nothing to do
(03:25):
with him. He literally his favorite memory was being on
the sideline. And I think that speaks to James what
you're talking about with Tyler and the kind of teammate
he is. When you have a guy like that who
is so productive but also has no personal ego, what
does that do for a locker room?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, it just it sets the tone for everybody, right.
When your best players are your hardest working guys and
show the most humility, it's you know, as a coach,
you can't ask for a better scenario. It's hard for
other people to maybe complain or not work as hard
(04:06):
as they should be working when they see that Tyler's
doing it right. I would even use kind of an
example with with Nil that we're dealing with now in
college football and same same there. Like you know, for
him to come back last year and the discussions with
Ni l or leaving early for the draft and those
types of things, it was not a difficult conversation, you know,
(04:31):
it was you know is you know, what is Penn
State going to do? Was really coming from us. What
were we going to do for him and his family
to feel like they could come back here and and
take that pressure off him and not worry about it
and just make the best decision for his future. And
it was it was pretty easy. It was pretty low
(04:51):
maintenance because I think he does a great job of
keeping the main thing, the main thing right. He wants
to be a great teammate. He wants to help the
organization win. A lot of guys say that in the
interview process or in the draft process when they're sitting
down with different teams, and they really just keep coming
back to doing what it takes to win, doing what
(05:13):
it takes to win. And some guys are saying that
because their agents have trained them to say that. Tyler's
saying it because he because he really means it.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
When we're talking about Tyler going to the NFL, now,
you know he goes from a situation at Penn State
where he's he's the focal point of your offense to
now in the NFL, he's going to have to earn
his way again. How does this attitude that we're talking
about here benefit him as he know makes a transformation
to being a you know, being a teammate in an
(05:45):
NFL locker room.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Well, I think help. It helps coming from a place
like Penn State and coming from a tight end room
at Penn State like we've had, like like the one
of the knocks people had early on it is like, well,
why did it? Why did it take till this year
for him to have this type of dominant season. How
come this didn't happen before? Well, last year he shared
time with a second round draft choice, Theo Johnson, who
(06:11):
you know is playing for the Giants. He's been around
high level players, He's played in big games. He's played
in New Year Six Bowl games, he's been in the playoffs.
So in some ways, up until this year, his role
has been to be a role player in whatever the
(06:31):
team needed. On special teams, on offense, you know, whatever
it may be. He was willing and able to provide that.
And even this year, like sometimes like you say, okay,
the USC game he had seventeen catches for like two
hundred and fifty six yards or whatever it was. We
never had a game later in the season, not once
(06:54):
where he was like get me the ball, get me
the ball, or I didn't get enough touches, or like
he is not that guy. I saw one interview where
he said, if I got a block and have no
catches in a game, or if I got to have
seventeen catches in a game to win, I'm comfortable with either.
(07:14):
And again that's not draft talk like he means that.
He truly means that. There wasn't one time in five
years with him where there was a complaint about not
enough touches or I'm not happy with how I'm being
used in the offense, not him, not his family, nothing.
(07:37):
So I just think what you are seeing out of
him in your brief interactions up to this point, it
is truly who he is. It's not putting on a
show and telling you what you want to hear.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
How is he as a blocker?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah, I think that's the thing. When you're six foot six,
your two hundred and sixty five pounds, and there's there's
enough film of watching him do that he could be
an in line why or he can be more of
an h back in terms of his production in the
passing game. And to me, that's where tight ends are
most valuable is when they literally can do both. Like
(08:17):
we've been one of the most productive teams in the
country using the tight end and I and I would
get upset because they would they would give the tight
End Award every year in college football to a receiver.
And what I mean by that is the guy may
be in the program as a tight end but he's
not playing tight end. He's a he's a big wide
(08:39):
receiver's slot. Correct, And when you're just a big wide
receiver and not a threat in the running game as
a blocker, then defenses will just treat you like that.
They put you in packages. Well, this guy's essentially a
wide receiver, so we'll put a safety on him, you know,
whether it's a big nickel or whatever it may be.
(09:01):
But when you're able to line up out wide and
be a threat in the passing game, but then motion
into the box and be a real threat in the
running game, that's when tight ends are most valuable. And
that's when you hear about them being mismatches that drive
defensive coordinators crazy.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
That transition from college to the NFL, in terms of
the physicality that is required out of tight ends to block,
that seems to me to be like one of the
steepest learning curves any rookie faces, maybe outside of quarterback.
What about Tyler is just like willingness to be violent
makes you believe he can make that transition, he can
(09:41):
handle that learning curve as he gets into the NFL.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I think it's a little bit like what we just
talked about I think a lot of these schools and
a lot of these tight ends aren't asked to do it.
You know, the guy that's winning the Mackie Award and
he has seventy five catches, and you can't find evidence
of toughness on film. You can't find evidence of sticking
his nose in there and wanting and trying to block.
(10:07):
So I think what happens is you draft a tight
end and you like him to play more of a
traditional role. Well, you're asking him to do something he's
never done. And we have the same issue when we
recruit tight ends. A lot of are the guys that
we recruited at tight end didn't play tight end in
high school. They were wide receivers. Tyler was a quarterback.
(10:27):
So that's the challenge, right is when why is it
such a steep curve. It's such a steep curve because
they have to block these massive athletic freakazoids in the NFL.
That's part of it. But the other thing is you're
asking a guy to do something that you didn't really
see a ton of evidence on tape, and you just say, well,
I'm gonna coach him. Well, sticking your nose in there
(10:51):
and that toughness with tight elbows and running your feet
and having a nasty demeanor and disposition to finish people.
That it's hard to create if a guy hasn't done
it in high school or college and now you want
him to fill that role in the NFL. I think
in some ways it's unrealistic. So with Tyler, that's not
a problem. He's been doing those things now for five
(11:14):
years at Penn State and this is just going to
be an extension of what the culture going to ask
him to do.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
You mentioned Tyler being a quarterback when he was being recruited.
Was the first time you saw Tyler as a quarterback
or dunking a basketball?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
What do you mean the first time I saw him?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Like when he came across your desk as a recruit
and you know, your staff was like, hey, there's you know,
there's this kid. He's committed to Virginia Tech because I
saw that he kind of got out there more as
a tight end prospect because of his basketball highlights.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, I think that was more specific to Penn State.
So to your point, he was committed to Virginia Tech
as a quarterback. Once he started to realize that probably
his future was not at quarterback and was going to
be more at tight end. That's when things changed. But
the reality is, it's not like he got out there
as a recruit as a tight end becauses soon as
(12:11):
he decided he wanted to do that and had sent
us his basketball highlights, which to your point, was a
huge part of our evaluation, even when I went and
watched him play in person, like he's one of these
guys in every game, he'd have like five to seven
dunks in every game, alleyups, whatever it may be. So
that was a big part of our evaluation in him
(12:32):
translating to the tight end position. But then once once
we decided we wanted them as a tight end and
he wanted to play tight end, then he committed pretty
quickly to Penn State and it went from there. Then
it was, hey, you know, we're gonna spend a lot
of time, especially your first couple of years of the
(12:53):
run game, of spend a ton of time in a
run game, because that was the thing he had not
done a whole lot of. So all over my tight
ends coach Ty Hall, who does an unbelievable job best
tight ends coach in college football, but I'm all over
him reminding him that, hey, in your individual drills, the
majority of your individual drills need to be in blocking
(13:13):
because most of the tight ends that we recruit don't
have a real background in that. We need to get
him ready for it.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
So you went and saw him play basketball in person? Yes,
I mean do you.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I'm sure you also went and saw him play football too, right,
But like the basketball part of it, that's that's really
interesting because like you see guys you know, you think
about like Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham in the NFL.
We got a guy here, Moel at Cox who started
at Virginia Commonwealth at basketball.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
What are you looking for?
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Like when you were like, Okay, I want to go
see this guy play basketball, are you looking for that
explosiveness out of him in terms of the dunks?
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Like what are you trying to scout there?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Yeah, so that's probably more common than you think. Like so,
for example, I don't think I have went and saw
them played football in person. Okay, you know that was
all on videotape and things like that. The basketball, it's
more just the time of it. Once our season ends,
then we're able to go out on the road recruiting,
(14:15):
and that's when you know, if they're playing multiple sports,
that's when you get a chance to watch them play
other sports, whether it's wrestling or basketball or whatever it is.
So just our recruiting calendar under the way it falls,
that's when you are able to do that. But yeah,
you know when you watched his basketball tape combined with
his football tape, and then when I went watched him
play in person, Like, like you know, when they send
(14:37):
you the highlight tape and it shows them shooting a three,
we could care less about you shooting a three, right.
We want to see your block shots. We want to
see you dunk, we want to see a change direction.
We want to see you move your feet. That's what
we're really looking for. Like, it's amazing how many football
players in their highlight having them shooting threes and stuff.
We don't really care about that. We want to see
(14:58):
the explosive athletic mo movements that will translate to football.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
When did you realize that Tyler could take on the
responsibilities that you and your coaching staff put on him
last year?
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Well, so I think a couple of things. You know,
he had really had a nice career at Penn State
two years ago. You know, from the information we were
getting from scouts and GMS, he was going to be
a third or fourth round draft choice. And when THEO
decided to come out early, our discussion at that point was, hey, Tyler,
(15:37):
you got a chance now to be the tight end,
not splitting time or reps, and now also have a
chance to be more of a focal point in the offense.
I mean, if you look at the tight end production
he put up the year before, with two tight ends,
it was easy to kind of make the argument, hey,
if you're not splitting his time on all these reps
(15:59):
and all these opportunities are going to go to you.
And as the season went on, just game after game,
he just continued to make clutch plays, contested catches. The
other thing is, you know, with him being six to six,
sometimes he doesn't look like he's running, but like people
can't tackle him. Like against Ohio State, he takes a
(16:21):
wildcap play and is running a power and he bounces
and gets to the edge and out runs Ohio State
down the sideline. So like, he just found so many
different ways to make plays, and we had used him
in some of these ways the year before as a
wildcap quarterback. But just a more way, more times we
(16:41):
could get the ball into his hands, good things happened.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
How does that speak to his football IQ that you
were able to put so much on his plate and
he was able to handle it so successfully.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, I think that's where his background as a quarterback helps,
not only with football IQ, but also being able to
do with cadence from the gun that everybody on the
offense is comfortable with, God forbid, get under center and
take a snap. You can't get quarterbacks to do that now,
let alone a tight end. Now you can run a
quarterback sneak with him, and he's six foot six, two
(17:15):
hundred and sixty five pounds running the quarterback sneak, you know,
and then all the complimentary things off that. So his
football IQ allowed that, but also just his background and
doing some of these things. Whenever you run wildcat quarterback,
when it becomes the most effective is when that guy
can actually throw the ball, so they just can't say
(17:37):
we're going to overload the box. Well, we could do
enough with Tyler that he could throw the ball that
Now the defense had to have some concern about that
as well. So all these things football IQ. A wide
variety of skills that he has. That's what made him
so valuable and one of the cooler you know what,
(18:00):
I would think one of the cooler tapes to watch
for for NFL teams. From the feedback I got as
well as as well as media people like yourself, it
was interesting. I listened in one interview where someone was
almost like using as a negative, Well, he was just
used in so many gimmicky ways at Penn State. Well
(18:20):
because because the guy was such a playmaker, we were
finding different ways to get him the ball and he
was able to execute all of them at a high level.
So I didn't really understand that take that was out there,
But to me, that just speaks volumes about kind of
his wide variety of skills.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Last one for you here, coach, during the pre draft process,
when teams called you and you they were asking you
about Tyler, what thing did you maybe find yourself repeating
the most about him to you know, pitch him as yes,
what you see, you know what you see on tape,
that this is a special kid. He is absolutely worth
(19:00):
being a high draft pick.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Well, when you're a CEO or head coach or leader
of any organization. You can't have enough people that are
high production and low maintenance number one, and he's like
the poster boy for high production and low maintenance. You know.
The other thing is, I think the point we already
(19:23):
talked about was he is a true tight end that
can line up in a traditional WHY or line up
outside or motion back in. So he is a true
tight end in my mind, that can play WHY or
the h BAC position, and there's value in that. Now,
(19:44):
some teams more than others value and use their tight
ends that way. So that was probably the second thing.
And then the third thing that I said to people
is he's a throwback. He could play now, he could
have played in the nineties, he could have played in
the eighties, he could have played in the seventies. Not
only as a as a player until terms of skills
(20:06):
and how they were used in the toughness, but also
in the locker room. You know, he's a he's a
man's man. Uh, he's uh universally respected by the staff
and his teammates. So he's a throwback in a lot
of ways. And you know, to me, again, you just
can't have enough guys like that in your locker room. Uh,
(20:29):
that are gonna be high production of little maintenance.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
James Franklin, head coach at Penn's Steak, good luck this season.
Thanks for joining me here on the podcast.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
All right back here on the Colt Show. Before the
Colt Show Mailbag, just a real quick word on the
status of Anthony Richardson. He did not participate in Veteran
Mini camp this week. I'm sure everyone listening and watching
already knows that we'll see what his timeline is come
training camp. That's all kind of to be determined, but
right now, you know, it was a lot of ngel
(21:00):
jones this week, so we'll we'll kind of just monitor
that when we get closer to that July twenty second
report day for veterans up in Grand Park for Colts
training Camp. Not a whole lot else to talk about
with that right now. We'll have plenty more time to
discuss that the status of Anthony Richardson what it means
for the quarterback competition when we get into training camp.
(21:22):
But I do want to get to the Colt Show
mail bag today because I got a really just good
question and something I wanted to talk about here. For
a little while. This is from Jim Williams from Marion, Indiana.
He writes, it's fair to say that Chris Ballard spent
some money to acquire defensive players to shore up some
of the weaknesses of our defense. Can the Colts defense
(21:42):
be a force in the league now that lou an
Arumo is the new coordinator? And I think the tying
in it's the veterans that were brought in with the
existing players on this defense. And this is a good
question because I've been you know, you kind of hear
this all the time. I'm like, well, lou Naruma had
a very you know, experienced, veteran defense in Cincinnati, and
(22:03):
when he had that, those defenses that the Bengals had
were very good. In twenty twenty two, there were fifteen
points allowed in the NFL. Now they tapered off a
little bit in twenty three and twenty four, but that
was with a lot of roster turnover, where you know,
you lost Jesse Bates, you you lost Von Bell at safety,
(22:24):
lost Chadobia Woozia at corner, and you were trying to
replace a lot of these guys. You lost DJ Reader defense,
Exciclarly trying to replace these guys with younger players. And
maybe louannar Rumo's the way that he wants to play defense,
which is very complex. It's very tailored to the opponent
on a week two week basis. You got to know
how to play every single coverage, every single defensive front.
(22:46):
Maybe that's better for veteran, more experienced players. So I
went back and I looked in twenty twenty two when
that was the best year of the Bengals defense statistically,
if you go back and look at it again, they
are fifth in points allowed. They're really high up there
in a lot of statistic categories. Their defense that year
was a huge driver of their success coming off making
the Super Bowl. So I went back and I looked at,
(23:07):
just like, how many games the guys on that defense,
the key guys on that defense had played in their career.
So I looked at twelve players that year who saw
significant time on defense. That would be Trey Hendrickson, Sam Hubbard,
BJ Hill, DJ Reider. That was their defensive line. The
main four guys there at linebacker, Jermaine Pratt and Logan Wilson,
(23:28):
and then they had a bunch of corners play quite
a bit of time, Can Taylor Britt, Shadobiya Woozier, Mike Hilton,
and Eli Apple. Then at safety Jesse Bates the third
and Von Bell. So those twelve guys averaged in their careers.
This is with a rookie in there, and Cam Taylor Britt.
They averaged coming into that season fifty seven and a
half games of experience. So you think about over seventeen games,
(23:49):
that's about three plus years of experience. Some of those
guys were going back to the sixteen game schedule in
twenty twenty and prior to that, so they had about.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
You know, almost sixty games experience.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
If you take out Cam Taylor Britt, those guys had
sixty two point seven average games of experience. The least
experienced guys in that defense were Cam Taylor Britt, who
was a second round pick that year rookie, and then
the two linebackers Pratt and Wilson, who had thirty nine
and twenty five games of experience, respectively. So again a
very veteran defense, especially in the back end, with guys
(24:22):
like a Woozy, a Hilton, Baits.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Apple, all those guys.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
So remember that those two numbers there were going to
just focus on the one with the rookies at fifty
seven point five. So that was the average number of
games of experience the twenty twenty two Bengals had in
their career before that season. Let's look at the twenty
twenty five Colts. Now, so I pulled you know, it's
hard to tell who exactly is going to start at
some positions. We don't know who might have a role,
(24:48):
who might not have a role, whatever it might be,
whose role is going to be bigger? But I just
pulled sixteen guys who could very well have a significant
role on this team this year. So I looked at
Layatu lat Taekwon Lewis, Quidy Pey, Samson, ebucom DeForest Buckner,
Grover Stewart, Zaire Franklin, Kennymore, the Second, Jalen Jones, Tarvarius Ward,
(25:08):
cam Binam Nick Cross, Jalen Carlai's schegu Alubi, Justin Wally
j T, Twoymoloau. So you know, look, I could have
thrown in Juju Brentson there. Don't really know what the
cornerback competition is gonna look like, don't really know what
that linebacker spot opposite Zaiera is going to be whether
it's you know, Carlis, whether it's a Loubi, but just
a general look.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
At these guys.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
So, including Wally and Tuimoloau, those sixteen players bring fifty
eight games of experience on average to the Colts this season.
That is right in line with the fifty seven and
a half that the Bengals had in twenty twenty two.
Now that doesn't mean that all all games of experience
are not created equal, right, Some could be on special teams.
(25:51):
Some you could have had a really bad game, Some
you're a rookie just figuring it out, whatever it might be.
But I think the point is this is a veteran defense,
especially in the back end. And when you look at
Kenny Moore one hundred and seventeen career games, Travarius Ward
one hundred and two career games, cam buying them, sixty
five career games, even Nick Cross he's at fifty career games.
Jalen Jones, even though he's a twenty twenty three draft pick,
(26:14):
he's appeared in thirty four games. He hasn't missed a
game in his career. So you've got some vets back there.
You got guys with experience, and I think that does
lend itself to lou Anarumo playing defense and calling defense
the way that he probably wants to, which is very intricate.
He's going to disguise stuff, He's going to throw different
(26:34):
looks on different downs that you might not expect if
he hasn't experienced and smart defense. And it's not just
that these Colts players are experienced, but they're smart, and
I think that's going to lend itself to them being
able to do some different things.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Also, Justin Wally.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
I asked Shane Stichen a pretty basic question on Thursday
of last week about just how the defense has kind
of been taken to lou Anarumo. You know, he started
talking a little bit and then he brought up Justin
Wally specifically. He was the only player he brought up
in the answer. And I know a lot of other
people in the room their ear is kind of perked up, like, oh, okay,
tell me more about Justin Wally. And everything I've heard
(27:11):
is that he's been awesome so far during OTA's and
now mini camp.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
So we'll see.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
You know, pad's still got to go on in training camp.
That's an adjustment game action in the NFL is an adjustment,
but early returns on Justin Wally really really encouraging.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
It sounds like. So we'll see kind of how that
all plays out.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
But to answer Jim's question, I do think there's a
chance that if this defense comes together the way that
lou An Arumo envisions it, this could be a really
good defense and it could be something that maybe sets
a pretty high floor for what the twenty twenty five
Colts can be in terms of their record. Again, the
ceiling could be based on their offense. We'll see and
(27:49):
we'll see where that goes. Whether it's Daniel Jones, Anthony Richardson,
Whoever's going to be the starting quarterback again, we'll figure
that out in training camp. We'll figure out how you know,
if Anthony Richardson is behind at all in tras camp,
or if he can get going early into camp at
the start of camp, whatever it might be. All Shane
Steichen told us was that he would be back at
some point during training camp. All right, that's gonna do
(28:10):
it for this episode of The Colt Show. Really excited
for the next two episodes to bring to everyone. I
had a chance to talk to a number of players.
I think the final total was thirteen during our media
content shoot that happened earlier this month. So you're gonna
see in the next two episodes, and you're gonna hear
players coming through. I just I kind of peppered on
(28:32):
with some questions a lot about the Pacers. We talked
a ton about the Pacers run to the NBA Finals
and what the impact that has been on the city,
on what they have seen out of the city, and
a lot of players all told me, look, seeing what
the Pacers have been doing has really been motivating for
us to Hey, we got to pick it up once
the fall rolls around. You know, we don't want to
(28:53):
be left behind with the Pacers having this incredible season.
So let's see if I can remember all the players
off the top of my head. I had a chance
to talk to Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson. I talked
with Alec Pearce, Ashton Doolan, I talked with Grover excuse me,
DeForest Buckner. Grover Stewart came by. As you would expect,
Neville gall Nevill Galamore was awesome. I loved talking to
(29:14):
Nevill Gallimore. You're gonna really enjoy that one. That's on
the first episode that's gonna come out. Got Nevill gallamar
Quity Pay came by, I had Kenny Moore. The second
come by, cam Binham came by. He was awesome talking
about training with Manny pakiaw this offseason. Really fascinating stuff there.
If I'm forgetting anyone, you'll see in the episode when
(29:34):
they come on by. Jyalen Jones is the other guy
and Shay Gulalubi. So those two other guys right there. Anyways,
those two episodes are going to be coming out next
Thursday and then the Thursday after that. Here among the
Indianapolis Colts podcast offerings again, I'm JJ stank Ititz. Thank
you so much for watching and listening to this episode
of The Cult Show. If you've made it this far,
(29:54):
please give us a five star review. Please like and
subscribe to us on YouTube, and and give us some
good feedback on what you like which you maybe don't
like about these episodes. We do read all of your comments,
all right. Anyways, that's going to do it for this
episode of The Cult Show. Thank you for watching, Thank
you for listening. Talk to you next week.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
So long,
Hey Colts fans, I'm JJ Sankerbitz. Welcome into another episode
of The Colt Show, an Indianapolis Colts podcast. Today I
had a chance to chat with Penn State head coach
James Franklin. As you would expect, we talked all about
Tyler Warren, the kind of person the cult are getting,
the kind of player the cults are getting, all the
crazy ways that Penn State was able to use him
(00:24):
in their offense. Really good chat. I learned a lot
from talking to James Franklin about him, and look, it's hard.
It was hard for me to not listen to this
and feel excited about how the Colts can use him,
how Shane Steichen can use Tyler Warren this upcoming season.
I can have the mail bag, the Colt Show mail
bag coming up after this chat with James Franklin, which
we will get to right now here on The Colt Show.
(00:45):
It is my pleasure to be welcomed here on The
Colt Show by Penn State head coach James Franklin. Who
better to dive into Tyler Warren with than the guy
who's were around him the most for the last four years. Coach,
Thanks for joining us. Here in the show.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Oh yeah, I appreciate the opportunity obviously getting a chance
as to talk about Tyler. You guys are gonna love him,
so appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
How transformative was Tyler for your program last year? I know,
you know, you guys had the highest finish in the
College football playoff rankings, highest finish in the AP rankings
in twenty years. I know it takes a whole team.
Obviously football is a team sport. But Tyler doing what
he did with those thirteen touchdowns and just maybe the
gravitational effect he had on Penn State's offense. Like, how
(01:33):
transformational was that last year?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah? Obviously, you know, you know, when you're in this
type of situation and playing in the games that we're
playing in, you got to get your best players the ball.
And for us, it became very obvious, you know, as
the year went on, at any time we put Tyler
in a position to make a play, he was gonna
(01:57):
make it. And whether that was as a receiver, or
whether that was running behind him blocking, or whether that
was him playing wildcat quarterback or quarterback sneaks or double
passes or whatever it may be, we just found creative
ways to get them the ball, and he really thrived
and flourished in all of them. And I think the
(02:20):
other point that you're making is also the stuff that
people don't see just a way from the media or
away from the games on TV, is the impact on
his teammates in the locker room. I mean, Tyler's high,
high production and low maintenance guy, he said. I think
(02:43):
in the five years that I was with him, I
think he said like seventeen words and just a very appreciative,
humble young man, got a great mom and dad, and
it's really is really just thrived in so many different
roles for us here at Penn State.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Something that really stood out to me when I had
a chance to sit down with Tyler the day after
he got drafted, and I asked him about the USC game, right,
you know, seventeen catches, you break a school record, you
win that game, and I was like, what's your maybe
favorite memory from that game, and he said it was
running out of the field with his teammates after the
game winning field goal. So it had nothing to do
(03:25):
with him. He literally his favorite memory was being on
the sideline. And I think that speaks to James what
you're talking about with Tyler and the kind of teammate
he is. When you have a guy like that who
is so productive but also has no personal ego, what
does that do for a locker room?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, it just it sets the tone for everybody, right.
When your best players are your hardest working guys and
show the most humility, it's you know, as a coach,
you can't ask for a better scenario. It's hard for
other people to maybe complain or not work as hard
(04:06):
as they should be working when they see that Tyler's
doing it right. I would even use kind of an
example with with Nil that we're dealing with now in
college football and same same there. Like you know, for
him to come back last year and the discussions with
Ni l or leaving early for the draft and those
types of things, it was not a difficult conversation, you know,
(04:31):
it was you know is you know, what is Penn
State going to do? Was really coming from us. What
were we going to do for him and his family
to feel like they could come back here and and
take that pressure off him and not worry about it
and just make the best decision for his future. And
it was it was pretty easy. It was pretty low
(04:51):
maintenance because I think he does a great job of
keeping the main thing, the main thing right. He wants
to be a great teammate. He wants to help the
organization win. A lot of guys say that in the
interview process or in the draft process when they're sitting
down with different teams, and they really just keep coming
back to doing what it takes to win, doing what
(05:13):
it takes to win. And some guys are saying that
because their agents have trained them to say that. Tyler's
saying it because he because he really means it.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
When we're talking about Tyler going to the NFL, now,
you know he goes from a situation at Penn State
where he's he's the focal point of your offense to
now in the NFL, he's going to have to earn
his way again. How does this attitude that we're talking
about here benefit him as he know makes a transformation
to being a you know, being a teammate in an
(05:45):
NFL locker room.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Well, I think help. It helps coming from a place
like Penn State and coming from a tight end room
at Penn State like we've had, like like the one
of the knocks people had early on it is like, well,
why did it? Why did it take till this year
for him to have this type of dominant season. How
come this didn't happen before? Well, last year he shared
time with a second round draft choice, Theo Johnson, who
(06:11):
you know is playing for the Giants. He's been around
high level players, He's played in big games. He's played
in New Year Six Bowl games, he's been in the playoffs.
So in some ways, up until this year, his role
has been to be a role player in whatever the
(06:31):
team needed. On special teams, on offense, you know, whatever
it may be. He was willing and able to provide that.
And even this year, like sometimes like you say, okay,
the USC game he had seventeen catches for like two
hundred and fifty six yards or whatever it was. We
never had a game later in the season, not once
(06:54):
where he was like get me the ball, get me
the ball, or I didn't get enough touches, or like
he is not that guy. I saw one interview where
he said, if I got a block and have no
catches in a game, or if I got to have
seventeen catches in a game to win, I'm comfortable with either.
(07:14):
And again that's not draft talk like he means that.
He truly means that. There wasn't one time in five
years with him where there was a complaint about not
enough touches or I'm not happy with how I'm being
used in the offense, not him, not his family, nothing.
(07:37):
So I just think what you are seeing out of
him in your brief interactions up to this point, it
is truly who he is. It's not putting on a
show and telling you what you want to hear.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
How is he as a blocker?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah, I think that's the thing. When you're six foot six,
your two hundred and sixty five pounds, and there's there's
enough film of watching him do that he could be
an in line why or he can be more of
an h back in terms of his production in the
passing game. And to me, that's where tight ends are
most valuable is when they literally can do both. Like
(08:17):
we've been one of the most productive teams in the
country using the tight end and I and I would
get upset because they would they would give the tight
End Award every year in college football to a receiver.
And what I mean by that is the guy may
be in the program as a tight end but he's
not playing tight end. He's a he's a big wide
(08:39):
receiver's slot. Correct, And when you're just a big wide
receiver and not a threat in the running game as
a blocker, then defenses will just treat you like that.
They put you in packages. Well, this guy's essentially a
wide receiver, so we'll put a safety on him, you know,
whether it's a big nickel or whatever it may be.
(09:01):
But when you're able to line up out wide and
be a threat in the passing game, but then motion
into the box and be a real threat in the
running game, that's when tight ends are most valuable. And
that's when you hear about them being mismatches that drive
defensive coordinators crazy.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
That transition from college to the NFL, in terms of
the physicality that is required out of tight ends to block,
that seems to me to be like one of the
steepest learning curves any rookie faces, maybe outside of quarterback.
What about Tyler is just like willingness to be violent
makes you believe he can make that transition, he can
(09:41):
handle that learning curve as he gets into the NFL.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I think it's a little bit like what we just
talked about I think a lot of these schools and
a lot of these tight ends aren't asked to do it.
You know, the guy that's winning the Mackie Award and
he has seventy five catches, and you can't find evidence
of toughness on film. You can't find evidence of sticking
his nose in there and wanting and trying to block.
(10:07):
So I think what happens is you draft a tight
end and you like him to play more of a
traditional role. Well, you're asking him to do something he's
never done. And we have the same issue when we
recruit tight ends. A lot of are the guys that
we recruited at tight end didn't play tight end in
high school. They were wide receivers. Tyler was a quarterback.
(10:27):
So that's the challenge, right is when why is it
such a steep curve. It's such a steep curve because
they have to block these massive athletic freakazoids in the NFL.
That's part of it. But the other thing is you're
asking a guy to do something that you didn't really
see a ton of evidence on tape, and you just say, well,
I'm gonna coach him. Well, sticking your nose in there
(10:51):
and that toughness with tight elbows and running your feet
and having a nasty demeanor and disposition to finish people.
That it's hard to create if a guy hasn't done
it in high school or college and now you want
him to fill that role in the NFL. I think
in some ways it's unrealistic. So with Tyler, that's not
a problem. He's been doing those things now for five
(11:14):
years at Penn State and this is just going to
be an extension of what the culture going to ask
him to do.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
You mentioned Tyler being a quarterback when he was being recruited.
Was the first time you saw Tyler as a quarterback
or dunking a basketball?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
What do you mean the first time I saw him?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Like when he came across your desk as a recruit
and you know, your staff was like, hey, there's you know,
there's this kid. He's committed to Virginia Tech because I
saw that he kind of got out there more as
a tight end prospect because of his basketball highlights.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, I think that was more specific to Penn State.
So to your point, he was committed to Virginia Tech
as a quarterback. Once he started to realize that probably
his future was not at quarterback and was going to
be more at tight end. That's when things changed. But
the reality is, it's not like he got out there
as a recruit as a tight end becauses soon as
(12:11):
he decided he wanted to do that and had sent
us his basketball highlights, which to your point, was a
huge part of our evaluation, even when I went and
watched him play in person, like he's one of these
guys in every game, he'd have like five to seven
dunks in every game, alleyups, whatever it may be. So
that was a big part of our evaluation in him
(12:32):
translating to the tight end position. But then once once
we decided we wanted them as a tight end and
he wanted to play tight end, then he committed pretty
quickly to Penn State and it went from there. Then
it was, hey, you know, we're gonna spend a lot
of time, especially your first couple of years of the
(12:53):
run game, of spend a ton of time in a
run game, because that was the thing he had not
done a whole lot of. So all over my tight
ends coach Ty Hall, who does an unbelievable job best
tight ends coach in college football, but I'm all over
him reminding him that, hey, in your individual drills, the
majority of your individual drills need to be in blocking
(13:13):
because most of the tight ends that we recruit don't
have a real background in that. We need to get
him ready for it.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
So you went and saw him play basketball in person? Yes,
I mean do you.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I'm sure you also went and saw him play football too, right,
But like the basketball part of it, that's that's really
interesting because like you see guys you know, you think
about like Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham in the NFL.
We got a guy here, Moel at Cox who started
at Virginia Commonwealth at basketball.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
What are you looking for?
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Like when you were like, Okay, I want to go
see this guy play basketball, are you looking for that
explosiveness out of him in terms of the dunks?
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Like what are you trying to scout there?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Yeah, so that's probably more common than you think. Like so,
for example, I don't think I have went and saw
them played football in person. Okay, you know that was
all on videotape and things like that. The basketball, it's
more just the time of it. Once our season ends,
then we're able to go out on the road recruiting,
(14:15):
and that's when you know, if they're playing multiple sports,
that's when you get a chance to watch them play
other sports, whether it's wrestling or basketball or whatever it is.
So just our recruiting calendar under the way it falls,
that's when you are able to do that. But yeah,
you know when you watched his basketball tape combined with
his football tape, and then when I went watched him
play in person, Like, like you know, when they send
(14:37):
you the highlight tape and it shows them shooting a three,
we could care less about you shooting a three, right.
We want to see your block shots. We want to
see you dunk, we want to see a change direction.
We want to see you move your feet. That's what
we're really looking for. Like, it's amazing how many football
players in their highlight having them shooting threes and stuff.
We don't really care about that. We want to see
(14:58):
the explosive athletic mo movements that will translate to football.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
When did you realize that Tyler could take on the
responsibilities that you and your coaching staff put on him
last year?
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Well, so I think a couple of things. You know,
he had really had a nice career at Penn State
two years ago. You know, from the information we were
getting from scouts and GMS, he was going to be
a third or fourth round draft choice. And when THEO
decided to come out early, our discussion at that point was, hey, Tyler,
(15:37):
you got a chance now to be the tight end,
not splitting time or reps, and now also have a
chance to be more of a focal point in the offense.
I mean, if you look at the tight end production
he put up the year before, with two tight ends,
it was easy to kind of make the argument, hey,
if you're not splitting his time on all these reps
(15:59):
and all these opportunities are going to go to you.
And as the season went on, just game after game,
he just continued to make clutch plays, contested catches. The
other thing is, you know, with him being six to six,
sometimes he doesn't look like he's running, but like people
can't tackle him. Like against Ohio State, he takes a
(16:21):
wildcap play and is running a power and he bounces
and gets to the edge and out runs Ohio State
down the sideline. So like, he just found so many
different ways to make plays, and we had used him
in some of these ways the year before as a
wildcap quarterback. But just a more way, more times we
(16:41):
could get the ball into his hands, good things happened.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
How does that speak to his football IQ that you
were able to put so much on his plate and
he was able to handle it so successfully.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, I think that's where his background as a quarterback helps,
not only with football IQ, but also being able to
do with cadence from the gun that everybody on the
offense is comfortable with, God forbid, get under center and
take a snap. You can't get quarterbacks to do that now,
let alone a tight end. Now you can run a
quarterback sneak with him, and he's six foot six, two
(17:15):
hundred and sixty five pounds running the quarterback sneak, you know,
and then all the complimentary things off that. So his
football IQ allowed that, but also just his background and
doing some of these things. Whenever you run wildcat quarterback,
when it becomes the most effective is when that guy
can actually throw the ball, so they just can't say
(17:37):
we're going to overload the box. Well, we could do
enough with Tyler that he could throw the ball that
Now the defense had to have some concern about that
as well. So all these things football IQ. A wide
variety of skills that he has. That's what made him
so valuable and one of the cooler you know what,
(18:00):
I would think one of the cooler tapes to watch
for for NFL teams. From the feedback I got as
well as as well as media people like yourself, it
was interesting. I listened in one interview where someone was
almost like using as a negative, Well, he was just
used in so many gimmicky ways at Penn State. Well
(18:20):
because because the guy was such a playmaker, we were
finding different ways to get him the ball and he
was able to execute all of them at a high level.
So I didn't really understand that take that was out there,
But to me, that just speaks volumes about kind of
his wide variety of skills.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Last one for you here, coach, during the pre draft process,
when teams called you and you they were asking you
about Tyler, what thing did you maybe find yourself repeating
the most about him to you know, pitch him as yes,
what you see, you know what you see on tape,
that this is a special kid. He is absolutely worth
(19:00):
being a high draft pick.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Well, when you're a CEO or head coach or leader
of any organization. You can't have enough people that are
high production and low maintenance number one, and he's like
the poster boy for high production and low maintenance. You know.
The other thing is, I think the point we already
(19:23):
talked about was he is a true tight end that
can line up in a traditional WHY or line up
outside or motion back in. So he is a true
tight end in my mind, that can play WHY or
the h BAC position, and there's value in that. Now,
(19:44):
some teams more than others value and use their tight
ends that way. So that was probably the second thing.
And then the third thing that I said to people
is he's a throwback. He could play now, he could
have played in the nineties, he could have played in
the eighties, he could have played in the seventies. Not
only as a as a player until terms of skills
(20:06):
and how they were used in the toughness, but also
in the locker room. You know, he's a he's a
man's man. Uh, he's uh universally respected by the staff
and his teammates. So he's a throwback in a lot
of ways. And you know, to me, again, you just
can't have enough guys like that in your locker room. Uh,
(20:29):
that are gonna be high production of little maintenance.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
James Franklin, head coach at Penn's Steak, good luck this season.
Thanks for joining me here on the podcast.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
All right back here on the Colt Show. Before the
Colt Show Mailbag, just a real quick word on the
status of Anthony Richardson. He did not participate in Veteran
Mini camp this week. I'm sure everyone listening and watching
already knows that we'll see what his timeline is come
training camp. That's all kind of to be determined, but
right now, you know, it was a lot of ngel
(21:00):
jones this week, so we'll we'll kind of just monitor
that when we get closer to that July twenty second
report day for veterans up in Grand Park for Colts
training Camp. Not a whole lot else to talk about
with that right now. We'll have plenty more time to
discuss that the status of Anthony Richardson what it means
for the quarterback competition when we get into training camp.
(21:22):
But I do want to get to the Colt Show
mail bag today because I got a really just good
question and something I wanted to talk about here. For
a little while. This is from Jim Williams from Marion, Indiana.
He writes, it's fair to say that Chris Ballard spent
some money to acquire defensive players to shore up some
of the weaknesses of our defense. Can the Colts defense
(21:42):
be a force in the league now that lou an
Arumo is the new coordinator? And I think the tying
in it's the veterans that were brought in with the
existing players on this defense. And this is a good
question because I've been you know, you kind of hear
this all the time. I'm like, well, lou Naruma had
a very you know, experienced, veteran defense in Cincinnati, and
(22:03):
when he had that, those defenses that the Bengals had
were very good. In twenty twenty two, there were fifteen
points allowed in the NFL. Now they tapered off a
little bit in twenty three and twenty four, but that
was with a lot of roster turnover, where you know,
you lost Jesse Bates, you you lost Von Bell at safety,
(22:24):
lost Chadobia Woozia at corner, and you were trying to
replace a lot of these guys. You lost DJ Reader defense,
Exciclarly trying to replace these guys with younger players. And
maybe louannar Rumo's the way that he wants to play defense,
which is very complex. It's very tailored to the opponent
on a week two week basis. You got to know
how to play every single coverage, every single defensive front.
(22:46):
Maybe that's better for veteran, more experienced players. So I
went back and I looked in twenty twenty two when
that was the best year of the Bengals defense statistically,
if you go back and look at it again, they
are fifth in points allowed. They're really high up there
in a lot of statistic categories. Their defense that year
was a huge driver of their success coming off making
the Super Bowl. So I went back and I looked at,
(23:07):
just like, how many games the guys on that defense,
the key guys on that defense had played in their career.
So I looked at twelve players that year who saw
significant time on defense. That would be Trey Hendrickson, Sam Hubbard,
BJ Hill, DJ Reider. That was their defensive line. The
main four guys there at linebacker, Jermaine Pratt and Logan Wilson,
(23:28):
and then they had a bunch of corners play quite
a bit of time, Can Taylor Britt, Shadobiya Woozier, Mike Hilton,
and Eli Apple. Then at safety Jesse Bates the third
and Von Bell. So those twelve guys averaged in their careers.
This is with a rookie in there, and Cam Taylor Britt.
They averaged coming into that season fifty seven and a
half games of experience. So you think about over seventeen games,
(23:49):
that's about three plus years of experience. Some of those
guys were going back to the sixteen game schedule in
twenty twenty and prior to that, so they had about.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
You know, almost sixty games experience.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
If you take out Cam Taylor Britt, those guys had
sixty two point seven average games of experience. The least
experienced guys in that defense were Cam Taylor Britt, who
was a second round pick that year rookie, and then
the two linebackers Pratt and Wilson, who had thirty nine
and twenty five games of experience, respectively. So again a
very veteran defense, especially in the back end, with guys
(24:22):
like a Woozy, a Hilton, Baits.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Apple, all those guys.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
So remember that those two numbers there were going to
just focus on the one with the rookies at fifty
seven point five. So that was the average number of
games of experience the twenty twenty two Bengals had in
their career before that season. Let's look at the twenty
twenty five Colts. Now, so I pulled you know, it's
hard to tell who exactly is going to start at
some positions. We don't know who might have a role,
(24:48):
who might not have a role, whatever it might be,
whose role is going to be bigger? But I just
pulled sixteen guys who could very well have a significant
role on this team this year. So I looked at
Layatu lat Taekwon Lewis, Quidy Pey, Samson, ebucom DeForest Buckner,
Grover Stewart, Zaire Franklin, Kennymore, the Second, Jalen Jones, Tarvarius Ward,
(25:08):
cam Binam Nick Cross, Jalen Carlai's schegu Alubi, Justin Wally
j T, Twoymoloau. So you know, look, I could have
thrown in Juju Brentson there. Don't really know what the
cornerback competition is gonna look like, don't really know what
that linebacker spot opposite Zaiera is going to be whether
it's you know, Carlis, whether it's a Loubi, but just
a general look.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
At these guys.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
So, including Wally and Tuimoloau, those sixteen players bring fifty
eight games of experience on average to the Colts this season.
That is right in line with the fifty seven and
a half that the Bengals had in twenty twenty two.
Now that doesn't mean that all all games of experience
are not created equal, right, Some could be on special teams.
(25:51):
Some you could have had a really bad game, Some
you're a rookie just figuring it out, whatever it might be.
But I think the point is this is a veteran defense,
especially in the back end. And when you look at
Kenny Moore one hundred and seventeen career games, Travarius Ward
one hundred and two career games, cam buying them, sixty
five career games, even Nick Cross he's at fifty career games.
Jalen Jones, even though he's a twenty twenty three draft pick,
(26:14):
he's appeared in thirty four games. He hasn't missed a
game in his career. So you've got some vets back there.
You got guys with experience, and I think that does
lend itself to lou Anarumo playing defense and calling defense
the way that he probably wants to, which is very intricate.
He's going to disguise stuff, He's going to throw different
(26:34):
looks on different downs that you might not expect if
he hasn't experienced and smart defense. And it's not just
that these Colts players are experienced, but they're smart, and
I think that's going to lend itself to them being
able to do some different things.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Also, Justin Wally.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
I asked Shane Stichen a pretty basic question on Thursday
of last week about just how the defense has kind
of been taken to lou Anarumo. You know, he started
talking a little bit and then he brought up Justin
Wally specifically. He was the only player he brought up
in the answer. And I know a lot of other
people in the room their ear is kind of perked up, like, oh, okay,
tell me more about Justin Wally. And everything I've heard
(27:11):
is that he's been awesome so far during OTA's and
now mini camp.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
So we'll see.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
You know, pad's still got to go on in training camp.
That's an adjustment game action in the NFL is an adjustment,
but early returns on Justin Wally really really encouraging.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
It sounds like. So we'll see kind of how that
all plays out.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
But to answer Jim's question, I do think there's a
chance that if this defense comes together the way that
lou An Arumo envisions it, this could be a really
good defense and it could be something that maybe sets
a pretty high floor for what the twenty twenty five
Colts can be in terms of their record. Again, the
ceiling could be based on their offense. We'll see and
(27:49):
we'll see where that goes. Whether it's Daniel Jones, Anthony Richardson,
Whoever's going to be the starting quarterback again, we'll figure
that out in training camp. We'll figure out how you know,
if Anthony Richardson is behind at all in tras camp,
or if he can get going early into camp at
the start of camp, whatever it might be. All Shane
Steichen told us was that he would be back at
some point during training camp. All right, that's gonna do
(28:10):
it for this episode of The Colt Show. Really excited
for the next two episodes to bring to everyone. I
had a chance to talk to a number of players.
I think the final total was thirteen during our media
content shoot that happened earlier this month. So you're gonna
see in the next two episodes, and you're gonna hear
players coming through. I just I kind of peppered on
(28:32):
with some questions a lot about the Pacers. We talked
a ton about the Pacers run to the NBA Finals
and what the impact that has been on the city,
on what they have seen out of the city, and
a lot of players all told me, look, seeing what
the Pacers have been doing has really been motivating for
us to Hey, we got to pick it up once
the fall rolls around. You know, we don't want to
(28:53):
be left behind with the Pacers having this incredible season.
So let's see if I can remember all the players
off the top of my head. I had a chance
to talk to Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson. I talked
with Alec Pearce, Ashton Doolan, I talked with Grover excuse me,
DeForest Buckner. Grover Stewart came by. As you would expect,
Neville gall Nevill Galamore was awesome. I loved talking to
(29:14):
Nevill Gallimore. You're gonna really enjoy that one. That's on
the first episode that's gonna come out. Got Nevill gallamar
Quity Pay came by, I had Kenny Moore. The second
come by, cam Binham came by. He was awesome talking
about training with Manny pakiaw this offseason. Really fascinating stuff there.
If I'm forgetting anyone, you'll see in the episode when
(29:34):
they come on by. Jyalen Jones is the other guy
and Shay Gulalubi. So those two other guys right there. Anyways,
those two episodes are going to be coming out next
Thursday and then the Thursday after that. Here among the
Indianapolis Colts podcast offerings again, I'm JJ stank Ititz. Thank
you so much for watching and listening to this episode
of The Cult Show. If you've made it this far,
(29:54):
please give us a five star review. Please like and
subscribe to us on YouTube, and and give us some
good feedback on what you like which you maybe don't
like about these episodes. We do read all of your comments,
all right. Anyways, that's going to do it for this
episode of The Cult Show. Thank you for watching, Thank
you for listening. Talk to you next week.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
So long,
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