Best of Friday 9/5: Colts-Dolphins predictions, wild NFL opener & more!

00:00 – 27:57 - WTHR’s Domnic Miranda joins us for Operation Football out in Beech Grove, tonight’s big matchups, the big storylines as we enter Week 3, Caitlin Clark out for the season, outlook for the Fever and their potential postseason ceiling, Brownsburg WR Branden Sharpe, Notre Dame, Halloween costumes, Colts-Dolphins concerns, Daniel Jones’ expectations for Week 1

27:58 – 41:01 – ISC’s Greg Rakestraw joins us to add his insight into the third week of the Indiana High school football season, the top team in class 6A, Carmel’s surprising start to the season with Kevin Wright at the helm, previewing the Indianapolis Colts season-opener, Daniel Jones first game as a Colt, a new defensive scheme, family members of current and former Colts that are playing on Friday nights

41:02 – 55:37 - Colts radio announcer Matt Taylor joins us on his excitement for the season, his sell to Colts fans on hope for the season, Taylor’s Tidbits is BACK, what will the running back group will look like behind Johnathan Taylor in week 1, background on the Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and how the Colts can disrupt the Miami offense

Support the show: https://1075thefan.com/the-wake-up-call-1075-the-fan/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You were listening to the Best of the Fan morning
show on ninety three five and one oh seven five
the Fan. Some call it Football Friday. We call it
Operation Football in tandem with our fine friends over at
Channel thirteen and their sports director, Dominic Miranda joins us
as he does every Friday morning at this time, live
from uh who knows where where in the world is

(00:20):
Dominic Miranda today on the Payless Liquors hotline. Dom you
had your pep rally where this morning?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Beach Grove High School. Hey, thanks for having me for
It's always a pleasure. Just an absolute beautiful morning here
in Central Indiana. The hornet's nest, the hive. I'm not
sure what you call it, but it was buzzing no
pun intended this morning.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
It was a lot of fun, Dominic. They're one of
the feel good stories early in the year, are they not?

Speaker 4 (00:44):
Two and oh? They are surprised two and oh two
and oh for the first.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Time since the twenty eighteen twenty nineteen season, and a
big one against another two and oh teams, Cacina tonight,
so we'll see. The football team was out here yet again.
I've unfortunately started a trend. I said I'm not liable.
I'm not liable. If you're tired, if you're fatigued, taking
nap today, do what you need to do. Coach seemed
to be Coach Rex Mosely seemed to be pumped up
about He said they couldn't keep the guys away.

Speaker 4 (01:09):
So we love hearing that. Love getting the guys fired up.

Speaker 5 (01:11):
Just don't take the nap during third period, right, correct.

Speaker 4 (01:13):
Yeah, that's right, study hall, study.

Speaker 5 (01:15):
Got it, got it man.

Speaker 6 (01:17):
All I'm saying, Dominicque, if you've got any problems with
people with some parents that might have some problems, come
call me.

Speaker 5 (01:21):
You know, you know you're my guy. We got to
keep you protected out here. I do want to love Javes.

Speaker 6 (01:27):
I do want to focus a bit on Beach Grove
here for a second. Sophomore quarterback Bishop Moore is having
a pretty solid season. What can you tell us about
him and the role he's embracing Obviously is QB one.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, I think guy saw four hundred and forty four
yards passing through two weeks.

Speaker 4 (01:43):
Yeah, that's no insignificant.

Speaker 5 (01:45):
Amount of three touchdowns.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yeah, I mean that's that's solid when you're talking about
high school, when you think about football success you don't.
Your mind doesn't necessarily go to Beach Grove. But coach
Rex mosely Man, he was awesome this morning. By the way,
he just gave me a huge handshake, like I.

Speaker 4 (02:02):
Thought he was gonna pick me up. Man, he was.
He got to be fired up. He had the guys
fired up.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
And again, like there is no requirement having the football
guys out there, all right, but they want to and
they want to be involved with the community. And these
these guys were fired up about it, and this school
is pumped up. Okay to be two and oh. Like
I said, you don't, your your mind doesn't go to
Beech Grove when you're thinking high school football success in
the state of Indiana.

Speaker 4 (02:23):
But they have a real shot opportunity tonight to go
three and oh.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
And yeah, that QB man, he's leading the way. I
mean that in high school. You know, if you're averaging
over two hundred yards passing through two weeks like that,
to me, that's pretty pretty dang solid, especially here in Indiana.
So I'm I'm pulling for for Beach Grove here tonight.
We'll see if they can get it done against the scene.
It'll be it'll be tough to see in a very
high store and win over Heritage Christian last week, So
we'll see. But it's the hornet's nest. It's gonna be busting,

(02:49):
It's gonna be awesome.

Speaker 5 (02:50):
KB. Is this the fighting Mike Chapels the Hornets?

Speaker 3 (02:54):
Indeed, the fighting Jason Hammers, the fighting Mike Chapels here
the Beach Grove Hornets. Yes, so I expect chap to,
you know, be running out of that the big sheet
that the cheerleaders make there to start our operation football here.

Speaker 6 (03:09):
And then on the flip side, Dominic. I know for Secina,
Eric Montgomery's had a big year so far. What do
you know about him? And I know a little bit.
I know he's pretty good running back for them, but
what he can do to lead his offense try to
help them stayunefeeded.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Well, what I do know about Cecina is that they
have a lot of community involvement in school pride as well.
I'm not too familiar with mister Montgomery, but I was
talking to Nolan Ayres, noted Cecina football alumni and noted
DePaul football alumni, and he's very heavily invested in Cecina football. Okay,

(03:45):
the Crusaders, all right, and he was at the Harritage
Christian game and he said it was one of the
best high school football games he's been to in a
long long time. So both of these offenses seem to
be really solid here in the early going of the season.
So someone's gonna have to lose tonight. But Casina, like
if I had to go like historically, like, I feel
like Casina would pull it out here. But there's something

(04:07):
special brewing here at Beech Grove, Okay that they might
get it done here tonight, but not too familiar with
mister Montgomery. But that's why we have them on the
schedule here tonight. We're gonna watch Sanceina football play for
the first time this season. We try to spread the
love for our eleven o'clock slate every night, seven games
here tonight. We're down a photographer, so we had to
minimize our games. Gone to seven games live in studio

(04:29):
tonight and Beach Gross Casino. That's gonna be one of
the one of the big ones. But we got we
got a very nice slate and I gotta tell you guys,
the first two weeks here of India and high school football.
Have been really really telling and really talented stuff going
on on the field. Carmel comes to mind, HSC comes
to mind. Brownsburg's a buzzsaw, you know what I mean?
New pal Decater Central tough start, first year in six A.

(04:53):
All right, so we've we've made our way around the
classes and there's some really cool stuff going on. So
happy that you guys got to join set eleven.

Speaker 4 (05:00):
It's all sorts of fun to be. We give you
the information you need to know.

Speaker 6 (05:03):
Okay, well, I'll feel in a little bit about Eric Montgomery,
and I can't take credit for this is I was
a College Network indie star. He I guess the two
way player. A lot of that happens in the lower classes.
And he's had one hundred and sixty seven yards and
two touchdowns for the first two weeks. Also had fifteen
tackles last week, so you know, quite the player. And
when you're speaking of some of the matchups that you're

(05:24):
seeing so far, Dominic, I think, for me, when I
look at the way this is all kind of shaken out.
A lot of times, you don't really you know, one
of the best things by high school sports.

Speaker 5 (05:34):
You don't really know how it will shake out, you
think you will.

Speaker 6 (05:37):
And then you have those teams like you know a
Beach Grove who has some success there as well. But
I do know, you know, you know some more prominent
football players in the coast locker Roomho pulled up to
a high school game last week, So what can you
tell us about that?

Speaker 5 (05:48):
And perhaps the reaction from the crowd?

Speaker 4 (05:51):
Yeah, that was wild.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
I pulled up because we were we were live at
Brownsburg that had to get all the way up to
Carmel for Carmel Westfield, which was unbelievable environment. That was
a college football environment. No mind the construction and too
bad we couldn't get Rakestraw on the boogermobile by.

Speaker 4 (06:08):
The boyrime, crime against humanity.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
But I really want to talk about I want to
talk about the voice similarities and the speculating the heights,
all right, I did. I did not forget about that,
by the way. But look, Carmel Westfield was an awesome environment,
and I listened to Rake last Friday with you guys,
and I'm sure I have something to say about it
today as well. But you know, Carmel being down and

(06:32):
Westfield kind of supplanting them as who comes out of
the North for six A.

Speaker 4 (06:36):
Like Carmel is back.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
They look solid. They're fun to watch that that those
stamps were packed. And to your point, James, we had
Riley Leonard and Daniel Jones pull up. They were walking
up when I got out of the car. I'm like,
I'm in a hurry, but I'm clocking you guys.

Speaker 4 (06:50):
That you're here right now.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
And then they went on the sideline and they were
watching and they were they were being really gracious taking
a bunch of pictures.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
With the people there.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
But what an environment and what a win for Carmel
A statement win. Now they got Centerville out of Ohio tonight.
See they can keep this train rolling. But Kevin Wright
just picking up right where he left off there at Carmel. Man,
It's really impressive to see. But it was really cool
to see Ryle enterd and Daniel Jones there. I think
I saw Gary Brackett there also, So it was just
like star studded on the sideline for the Battle of

(07:18):
the North Side and the Greyhounds they're back, made a statement.

Speaker 4 (07:21):
It was awesome.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
I love it. People can tune in all night tonight
once the games are over to Operation Football on Channel thirteen.
Do Dominic Moranda doing a terrific job there. Hey, we
got news late night, late last night, late in the
day anyway, that Caitlyn Clark is not going to play
again this year. I know that you had had a
very extensive conversation with her early in the year. What

(07:44):
are your just what were you thinking when you saw
that statement come out? What came to your mind?

Speaker 4 (07:49):
It sucks. It just sucks.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
Like she's such a competitor, she wants to be out there,
and I.

Speaker 4 (07:54):
Just feel like she's really dejected.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
And I remember we caught up with her again before
the All Star Game, and even then, I mean, she
was playing right, but it just it just felt like
she wasn't herself. And growings, man, they are nothing to
trifle with, Like those linger. If you do not rest that,
that will linger. And if she's not going to be
the explosive player that we've all grown accustomed to her

(08:18):
being when she's out there, then I don't I don't
blame herself. I don't blame the Fever for, you know,
sidelining her. But it just is so disappointed to think
of the adversity this team is faced. I mean, it's
not just her. I mean, the slew of season ending
injuries is remarkable, truly, and for them to be over
five hundred still and clinging to that playoff spot, I
mean that would be.

Speaker 4 (08:38):
No insignificant feat just making the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
Without her, But yeah, catching up with her before the season,
like she had a lot of goals and I mean,
you can call a sophomore slump if you want.

Speaker 4 (08:46):
When she was out there, it.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
Wasn't the greatest start to the season by her state
her lofty standards. Okay, but this team, it's just it's
interesting to see all the hype and everything surround I mean,
this team heading into the season and then just to
be ravaged by injuries. And you've got to give credit
to Stephanie White the adjustments made that. I mean, how

(09:09):
many times was this starting five even healthy together? I mean,
truly it was. It stinks that it went this way,
and I don't think it's crazy to say they probably
won't make an extended run of the playoffs. I hope
I'm wrong. I hope I'm dead wrong, and then make
a crazy run to the WNBA championship. But it just stinks.
I think that was my prevailing emotion that the WNBA

(09:29):
is better when Kaitlyn Clark is playing. Basketball is better
when Kaylyn Clark is playing. And I'm sure it's just
eight r up inside to not be out there. But
if you're not going to be one hundred percent, then
you know you got to play the long game. It
sucks to say, but I understand the logic and everything.
It just stinks that it had to it's officially official.
Now we won't hear because it was day to day,

(09:50):
you know, technically from the team. I don't know, maybe
that designation was too hopeful or misleading.

Speaker 4 (09:56):
I'm not quite sure. I'm not going to.

Speaker 2 (09:57):
Speculate or anything, but it was day to day and
I remember catching up with the fever, you know, pr
around the All Star breaker. All right, she's gonna be
out expended period of time this time, right, Like, no, no,
it's day of day and anyway, here we are. But
it's disappointing. It stinks, but I just hope he's healthy.
Her and Tyrs Salbert both Man we got we gotta
get over this injury bug.

Speaker 6 (10:15):
So Dominic Tandon were On a more positive note, I
know that Brownsburg, where I receiver Brendan Sharp, is a stud.

Speaker 5 (10:22):
He bought out last week.

Speaker 6 (10:24):
You know, this is a kid who has multiple Division
one offers right now. Had two hundred and thirty seven
yard and two touchdowns against the fighting Kevin Bowens last
week in Cathedral and a shoutout went over them. Another
big game tonight against Franklin Central was also undefeated. But
what can you tell us about him and how he's
kind of making his stamp on the Central Indiana high
school football.

Speaker 4 (10:44):
Comfy young man? All right?

Speaker 2 (10:46):
I do know a lot about Brandon sharp Man. He's
he's extremely well spoken to. We caught up with him
in our high school football preview, which is still on
Wtjr Plus. By the way, Brownsburg's a buzzsaw. I mean goodness,
gracious Coach Hart got those boys just absolutely clicking on
all cylinders to blank. Look, it's not the most talented
Cathedral team that's ever walks through the door, but to

(11:08):
blank them twenty nine to nothing following up and out
of state win the.

Speaker 4 (11:10):
Week before, it's got to clicking every.

Speaker 2 (11:13):
Single throw, it's the and it's the yards after is
eight receptions. It wasn't that many receptions. Eight receptions, two
hundred and thirty seven yards and two touchdowns. That's just
that's bonkers right there. That's that's banana cakes, is what
my high school basketball used to call it. But he's
he's super confident. He's like, look, give me the ball
and I'll do the rest. Their offense is clicking and

(11:34):
Oscar Fry there back there, slinging it. Good connection with
Brandon Sharp and he just gets open super easily, and
then he's in. He's slippery, he's impossible to tackle. It
was a school record, by the way, after I don't
know if you said that that's off the top, but
it was a school record. And receiving her I mean
I should hope.

Speaker 4 (11:50):
So two, yeah, are you kidding me? But yeah, I've
talked before the season. He's undecided.

Speaker 2 (11:56):
He said it was funny the day I did the
preseason one on one sit down with Kurt Signetti. He
told me, oh, that's funny because like I love Kurt
Signetti and like I used definitely in you know, front
Runner here.

Speaker 4 (12:09):
So I was like, all, hight, well, that would be awesome.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
I mean, you think feels like you would fit right
in there in Bloomington. So undecided, but man, someone's gonna
get a steal that guy. That guy Rocks and Brownsburg
is buzzing right now for sure. Yeah, big game against
Franklin Central. Looking forward to that one. We'll be at
that one tonight.

Speaker 1 (12:27):
All right, Den once again, Operation Football, Channel thirteen. A
little bit later on tonight, all kinds of scores, highlights,
most comprehensive coverage. You're going to find a high school
football every Friday night on WTHR. DOM thanks so much
for stopping by. Appreciate your time. Travel safe tonight.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
Absolutely will do ron College shatar or Game of the
week hc A Von and Undercart.

Speaker 4 (12:49):
Are you kidding me? It doesn't get better than this.
Appreciate that shout out, Jeff, Hey, you guys, have a
great morning. We got NFL football this weekend. KB. Notre
Dame is gonna win eleven straight. Don't you worry?

Speaker 5 (13:00):
My brother, can you talk me off the ledge.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
It's gonna be okay. Well, the trenches need to get better.
I'll tell you that right now. French, we have our quarterback.
We have a quarterback. That much is true.

Speaker 5 (13:12):
Yeah, amen to that, But the trenches did worry. Men,
have a great night.

Speaker 4 (13:16):
Man, all right, We'll see you guys.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
Dominic Miranda, Channel thirteen. Operation Football, every Friday morning, seven
thirty right here in ninety three five one of five
the fan. Your shoulders noticeably slumped when he brought up
Notre Dame.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
Yeah, I still not off the ledge, alright, most they
played a cupcake team tomorrow, but Notre Dame. Schedule doesn't
evolve cupcakes.

Speaker 1 (13:38):
No kennessas State Dame, No.

Speaker 3 (13:40):
Kennisall State, No the owls? All right, Mark, can we
get an owl for Kennesaw State?

Speaker 4 (13:47):
Got cold?

Speaker 3 (13:48):
Exter Williams has to come back and play in blooming Ten.
I felt awful for him as two season inding injuries.
He tore his a cl in the spring one year
and then came back to playing the bucket game. And
I still vividly remember him going down non contact in
that game. And he was, you know, thought to be
a dual threat quarterback and was Georgia Southern last year.
Now kennisath State this year.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
Is that a real hour or is that just a
human being?

Speaker 3 (14:14):
And that's that's Oh that's an owl, just kind of
shot in the backyard.

Speaker 5 (14:18):
Sound very good, That sounds like a human being. No,
so not everybody, Steve, I know, Mark, find it better
a few howls.

Speaker 7 (14:27):
Find a better owl that was immaculate.

Speaker 5 (14:31):
Got some hot standards here on the show.

Speaker 7 (14:33):
Yeah, that's some birds. Oh that's nice. We can just
do animal sounds.

Speaker 1 (14:38):
Hey, we're talking about football. You want to have a
good time on Sunday morning, Colts fans join us as
the party starts before kickoff at the Ultimate Colts tailgate
Downtown at the Slippery Noodle. Sunday, September seventh, nine thirty
am is when it's gonna get started out there the fan,
Neutral and Jack Daniels. They have your game day covered.
Gonna have six dollars neutral selters, Seltzers, and Mick Ultra

(14:59):
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I head over to the game. We're all gonna get

(15:19):
hyped up for the Colts home opener against the Miami
Dolphins and the season opener. Don't miss it. Go to
one oh seven five thefan dot com for more information.
Slippery Noodle, that's your game day party spot coming up
Sunday morning, nine thirty Here with the fans speaking of
the Colts getting ready for the Dolphins. Now it's a
barred owl.

Speaker 5 (15:40):
We're critiquing owls. Oh okay, never heard of that one before.

Speaker 1 (15:45):
We're gonna get We're gonna get all different kinds of
owls this morning. Now you've opened up the floodgates for
Mark Dacan.

Speaker 7 (15:51):
Yeah, if that owl sound wasn't good for you, we
got to figure one out before we get out of
this hild today.

Speaker 1 (15:55):
I like the owl that tries to get to the
chocolate center of the TUTSI Pop. You remember that guy? Yeah,
I was.

Speaker 7 (16:02):
I always thought I would like. I'm like, I'm gonna
figure this out. I'm gonna I'm gonna lick the TUTSI
roll pop and get to them, and I give up.
I'm like, forget this, let me just eat this thing.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
Even a human being ever actually do that without biting
into it.

Speaker 7 (16:13):
I'm sure somebody on TikTok did it. Do you think
people want is?

Speaker 4 (16:18):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
If they're still out there, you can still get them
I see him showing up in the kids Halloween. Well,
kids don't really do Halloween, but up until a couple
of years ago, they were still getting.

Speaker 6 (16:26):
Those Yeah, if you give me a tousy pop on Halloween,
bad house.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
I was always yeah, I was.

Speaker 7 (16:33):
Always sure a blowpop guy, give me the word. I'm
in the middle.

Speaker 5 (16:36):
That's much better.

Speaker 1 (16:38):
Well, uh, it's coming up soon. Hello, Halloween is only
what six weeks away?

Speaker 7 (16:42):
So yeah, we already bought a Halloween costume at Costco.
My daughter's like, I get this. I'm like, it's in August.

Speaker 4 (16:47):
What are we doing?

Speaker 6 (16:47):
It's August. You might change your mind. Oh, I'll tell
you what my birthday is in December. I have a
twin sister, and my sister has been trying on dresses
for our birthday. Her birthday is what I call it
because I'm just so chill. She will FaceTime me and
show me the dress and then I kid you not,
there's probably been at least seven dresses and it's September.

(17:08):
Birthday is in December. So you talk about a planner,
she's a planner. She's asked me what I'm doing for
my birthday. I was like, Uh, if I get a
good meal. I am probably happy and not working, so
we'll see all that shakes out.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
When do the Halloween costumes come into focus in your household?

Speaker 3 (17:21):
Yeah, we probably should start chatting about him. Yeah, it's
it is nearing. So yes, I bowser, I assume for
Max and I don't know Rosie, maybe a princess or
something along those.

Speaker 5 (17:32):
Actually, I think she said you want to be a cheerleader.

Speaker 4 (17:34):
Okay.

Speaker 7 (17:36):
My daughters want to be a girl from The Descendants,
the Disney movie. And then my oldest is on the
costume from Costco. It's an inflatable Mario costume with Yoshi.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
Attached to like that respect.

Speaker 5 (17:48):
So she's gonna have the mustache and everything. All right,
that's a good outfit. That's a good uh costume.

Speaker 7 (17:54):
What she wants to be yet, which is unsurprising, whatever
it is, she's gonna rocket we know that.

Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah probably. Yeah. One of my favorites. Several years ago,
kids were probably eight nine, All of us went as Ghostbusters,
had the little little uh slime guns and everything. Man,
it was fun.

Speaker 7 (18:12):
I have the old Yeah, we had the old Ghostbuster
stuff in the nineties.

Speaker 4 (18:15):
That was outstanding.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
All right, football does come to the area tonight. High
school football. We just got done talking about that. Uh,
the college as Kevin was talking about just a minute ago.
You really worried about Notre Dame.

Speaker 5 (18:27):
Well, I again, I don't know wish.

Speaker 1 (18:30):
I mean, you got a whole week before you play again, but.

Speaker 5 (18:32):
We should probably transition to little colts Dolphins.

Speaker 4 (18:34):
We'll get there.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
But I just can't gloss right over that. I saw
the I mean, I don't know why they're gonna be
fine by the end of the year.

Speaker 5 (18:42):
Bye week for a Notre Dame.

Speaker 1 (18:43):
I know they're gonna be fine.

Speaker 5 (18:44):
Refocused on that. Yeah, gotta sea it over coming up
keys of the game. James Boyd, what do you got
Sunday one o'clock?

Speaker 6 (18:52):
You should probably contain to a degree Tyreek Hill and
Jayleen Waddle. I said, I'll keep looking at that secondary
and I'm like, you sure you want to put Zamon
Howard out there on either of those guys, Cause if
I am the play caller, I don't know nothing about
play calls. I'm just saying, run straight and run fast
right past him. I gott to see if he can
hold up. They had him on their team and they

(19:13):
chose to not bring him back. So I'm curious about that.
I think getting pressure on too will be key as well,
you know, to kind of counter some of that speed.
You want to get pressure on the quarterback. And then offensively,
what they've been telling us all year, you said you
want to maximize consistency.

Speaker 5 (19:27):
Well, let's see that.

Speaker 6 (19:27):
Let's see some drives where you're able to get up
and down the field and you're not having these starts
and stops that you know held you back last year
with Anthony Ritson and Joe Flacco. So I'm excited for
the game and we will certainly have some predictions for
you all. I would assume later throughout the show.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
Well, that secondary that's been rebuilt in the offseason certainly
getting to get a test when you start looking to
Tyree Kill and Jalen Waddle. And I don't think Darren
Waller is He's probably not gonna play, is he. I
know he's been battling some injuries. Do we have any
latest on his comeback attempt with the Dolphins at tight end.

Speaker 6 (19:57):
I don't know much about what his availabil ability will
be be, what a status will be he'll do, But I.

Speaker 5 (20:03):
Mean, if he's out there again, he just played football
and quite a while. The opposite of.

Speaker 6 (20:06):
What I just said about Exam and how I'm running right,
I'm doing everything to make sure he's involved in the action.

Speaker 5 (20:10):
I don't think he's practiced all week.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
Yeah. And then of course the speed out of the backfield.
I mean he catches passes and he turns the corner
eight chance.

Speaker 4 (20:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (20:16):
Me.

Speaker 3 (20:17):
Tackling is going to be a premium. You know, when
you're facing a team like this. You know, the Colts,
I thought one of the poor tackling teams in the
league last year. You know, you cannot let yards after
catch because Tua does want to get the ball out quick.
And you know, this is where I think the disrupting
of timing comes into play so much. A big reason
why you change defensive coordinators, in my opinion, is I
don't think you did enough disrupting from a coverage standpoint,

(20:39):
particularly playing You know some press, so you know, yes,
you can disrupt timing with your front but you can
also do it from a coverage standpoint. So it's gonna
be a great challenge. And again it's a unique challenge.
I thought to a pointed this out earlier this week. Oftentimes,
how defenses choose to play the Dolphins is a bit
different than how they used to play ninety percent of

(21:02):
the rest of the NFL. So, you know, what does
lou Ana Room. There's not a lot of Anna Rumo
against Miami here the last couple of years, so I
think that's a little bit of a different twist. And
you know, when you look back at last year's game,
just not a lot of takeaway Two didn't play in
the game, Jonathan Taylor didn't play in the game, Deforce
Buckner didn't play in the game. So there's just not
a lot to point to last year in that matchup,

(21:23):
low scoring game, ugly game. Again, Taylor to me is
just such a huge, huge aspect to playing the ball,
control and trying to grind out methodical drives and with uncertainty.
I think behind him and how they'll utilize those running
backs healthy Jonathan Taylor based off how he ended last season,
I mean, they gave him the ball a ton late

(21:44):
last year. I assume that'll be a big, big onus
for them coming up on Sunday.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
Yeah, Dolphins last year they were mid against the run,
kind of ranked right in the middle, and I would
think that that's gonna be the big focal point offensively.
I know Daniel Jones going to try to hit all
those receivers, but if the Colts can get it going
with JT, that could be a problem for the Dolphins. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (22:05):
Like Shane Stiken said, j T will be the backbone
of their offense, and I know people are kind of outraged
about that. Oh my gosh, why would he give away
the game plan? Jona Taylor is not a trojan horse.
He won of the best running backs in the league.
For this to work, he has to have a great
season at running back. And honestly, if you look back
at the last time Dale Jones had success in the

(22:27):
NFL in twenty twenty two, he had one sa Kwon Barkley,
who had a great season alongside him. So you need
a dynamic back. I think John Taylor is that, and
he'll have a chance to kind of prove himself too.
I think some of these guys won't really talk about it.
I think the Forest Buckner went there a little bit yesterday,
but just he called it scars, the scars of getting closed,

(22:48):
being disappointed and looking up after seventeen eighteen weeks and going, man,
I did all that for nothing, because we're not even
in the mix. We don't even have a chance to
have going a run because we didn't get a chance
to get into the dan And so I am excited
to see how they come out and ultimately, can you
exercise and demons here.

Speaker 5 (23:06):
You have not won.

Speaker 6 (23:06):
You're a season opener to in twenty thirteen, and that
needs to change in order for you to make the
playoffs the first time it since twenty twenty.

Speaker 1 (23:14):
Kevin, I'm really fascinated to see what kind of pass
rush the Colts put together this year. I know that
a lat two's coming on. They obviously are really stout
in the middle of that defensive line, but getting a
lot of pressure on the quarterback has been tough for
them the last couple of years. They addressed that a
little bit in the draft this year, right out of
the gate, how they're going to get pressure with lou
Ana Roumo's new new scheme, what's the plan to get

(23:36):
pressure onto it?

Speaker 3 (23:37):
Well, I think he's one of the hardest quarterbacks too,
pressure because it gets a ball out so quick, I
mean as quick as any quarterback in the league. So
it goes back to kind of what I was saying
a few minutes ago. To me, you can disrupt timing
and again a couple of different manners. If you're disrupting
on the back end with coverage and you know, sticky
press and boom to see you know, having the pump
and go to a second read or go to his
third read. That's what I think you're trying to do

(24:00):
with Tua. And you know, they've had a lot of
discussions in the offseason where as a big play of
an offense as they've been with Tua and Tyreek Hill
and Jalen Waddle. They didn't tap into a lot of
that last year. So I do think on paper there
is an advantage for the Colts D line against Miami's
O line.

Speaker 5 (24:18):
But you know they're gonna dial up some shots. So
when those.

Speaker 3 (24:21):
Plays happen, can the rush get home? Can you make
some competitive plays in the back end? Those gonna be
absolutely vital.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
What's Daniel Jones line look like if the Colts are
effective offensively, like if they win and they throw up
twenty four points or twenty seven points on the Dolphins,
what does his line look like? James, That's a good question.

Speaker 5 (24:41):
I'll talk back at you first. Let's see where.

Speaker 1 (24:44):
I'm thinking seventeen to twenty five for about two hundred
and twenty yards and at least a touchdown, and then
you lean on the ground game.

Speaker 5 (24:52):
Definitely lean in the ground game.

Speaker 6 (24:53):
I don't know if I would go that high with
the past attempts there, Jeff, but I do think the efficiency, yeah,
along those lines which you just laid out will probably
be what they want to see.

Speaker 1 (25:04):
I don't know, maybe six and a half seven yard
probably seven yards of pass the tent if they're somewhat successful.

Speaker 6 (25:11):
Yeah, but this is a guy who doesn't push it
down the field, so we'll see if that changes at all.
But I don't know I predict stat lines, man, I mean,
I haven't seen the guy in the offense, but I
would assume that if they win the game, he's probably
getting the end zone twice, whether that's two passing touchdowns
or passing in a running touchdown that's short yarded.

Speaker 5 (25:31):
So we will see.

Speaker 6 (25:33):
We did have Jonatailor talking about speeds yesterday and how
fast Daniel Jones is twenty one miles per hour and whatnot.
I want to see that on the gun on miles
per hour is very fast.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
Remember early in his career though that twenty twenty two year,
he had some long runs where he was out running
defensive back.

Speaker 5 (25:50):
I know, I know.

Speaker 3 (25:51):
I just want to see it again in the local
street where they have the police speed limits sign out
and just run by and see how fast you are.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
They always have that at the combine, don't they for
like the kids. The little little indoor twenty twenty five yard.

Speaker 3 (26:01):
Dash Vegas has Daniel Jones's day as nineteen for twenty
eight for one ninety nine and one and a half touchdowns.
That's you're over under for Daniel Jones coming up tomorrow Earth.

Speaker 5 (26:15):
Like Jeff will be slightly over that day. I think
it is which would be accessful day. I think it
is absolutely vital.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
As horizontal as the Colts want to be, as Dink
and Duncan's methodical as they want to be, you have
to take shots down the field. You just it's a
disserviced Alet Pierce probably more than anything if you don't
do that, and you just you have to say to
Mika Fitzpatrick and company, Hey, you might not think we're
gonna do it, but we have to put that seated.

Speaker 5 (26:42):
Doubt into your mind. You don't do that.

Speaker 3 (26:45):
NFL is too good and they're gonna suffocate you underneath.
So I think that is a huge, huge aspect to
the Colts trying to establish some balance offensively. I know
a lot of people will probably be tonguing cheek at this,
but some people actually care about it. I did see
the Colts announced that any roof announcements it used to

(27:06):
come from the Twitter of one Jim Ersay, Uh, Colts
Life on Twitter will be announcing the roof update. My
amateur retractable roof thoughts. If it's seventy one and sunny
and you can't have the roof open on Sunday, then
why do you have the retractable roof?

Speaker 5 (27:23):
So I'm gonna guess say, open roof coming up on Sunday.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
If nothing else, can we at least get Carly ERSA
Gordon to have a Twitter account to only announce what's
gonna happen with the roof before each ome get it.

Speaker 5 (27:35):
Seems to be pretty quiet on the old Twitter, But
I mean that that's all I'm looking for.

Speaker 1 (27:38):
Just tell me what the roof. Just tell me what
the roof is gonna be.

Speaker 5 (27:40):
At Colts Life.

Speaker 3 (27:41):
That's where you need to go on Twitter for your
Roof updates coming up on Sunday.

Speaker 1 (27:46):
All right, we'll talk more about the Colts and the Dolphins.
We'll stop in with our regular Friday morning chat with
the one and only Greg Raake Straw. In a moment.
As we continue it ninety three five one o seven
for all things in the and football and everything else,
we bring in our next guest every Friday morning at
eight am, the one the only Indiana legend, Greg rag Straw.

(28:08):
Good morning, Greg Rake Straw. Did you catch any of
that NFL game last night?

Speaker 8 (28:12):
I did, but I am hitting an age where the
rain delay tapped me out. I was locked in, especially
after I said Jalen Hurts was an MVP candidate on
your show yesterday and he maybe look smart, But at
like eleven o'clock, I'm like, all right, it's bourbon time
and time to go to bed. And that's exactly what happened.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
Bourbon time.

Speaker 4 (28:31):
I like that.

Speaker 5 (28:31):
Good for you, Greg, saw.

Speaker 8 (28:33):
The best sake sleeping pills. I do a little Woodford reserve.

Speaker 5 (28:36):
There you go, and then to that battle the West
side for you tonight.

Speaker 8 (28:41):
Correct Pike and Ben Davis both teams coming to zero
and two. Uh, It's it's a really young Ben Davis team,
especially a quarterback. They're playing a freshman. You know, both
these teams have played good teams so far to get
to zero and two. Both teams have struggled to score.
I think both teams are probably better than a record indicate.
I expect a very competitive game at b D tonight.

Speaker 3 (29:03):
One thought six A rake in Brownsburg. What they've done
in the first two weeks darn impressive. I think, you know,
Carmels had it obviously a really nice start under Kevin Wright.

Speaker 5 (29:12):
I don't come end of the year we thought six
A was wide wide open.

Speaker 3 (29:15):
Are we starting to tear things out at the top
there with the Bulldogs and I guess maybe the Greyhounds
or how do you view the top of six A?

Speaker 5 (29:23):
Right now?

Speaker 8 (29:24):
They are the early favorites in each of the two
respective haves. You know, it's through two ninths of the
regular season, so that should probably tell you, you know,
how much stock to put in it. You can't sleep
on Center Grove. They have won a couple of games,
again kind of like most teams that they trash. People know,
but are they clearly the winner of the two games
they have played. Yes, in terms of both Warren Central

(29:45):
and Carol of Fort Wayne. So you know, don't sleep
on them either. The way I've been phrasing people this week,
Kevin is this, I think Brownsburg is the best team
in six A, but I also don't think it is
a gap where they are an unbeatable team come the
post season or in terms of the regular season. So
Brownsburg is the early favorite, but a lot of ground

(30:07):
left to cover.

Speaker 6 (30:08):
Rag When you look at what Center Grove has done
over the last X amount of years, do you think
there's a certain degree of we shouldn't take this for
granted because I'm looking at them every year and it's
gotten to the point where no matter who lines up
for them, who suits up, or who they lose to graduation,
I expect them to be in the thick of things,
winning matters the most.

Speaker 8 (30:30):
I was there at the beginning of the Eric More days.
This is his twenty seventh year as the head coach
at Center Grove, and that was not viewed as a
good job to take. That was kind of like Barry
Alvarez when he got to Wisconsin thirtieth years ago in
terms of played to the right league, but were like
the smallest school and did not have exactly a great

(30:50):
winning tradition in football. Have an occasional good year, but
not a place where you thought you were going to
be competitive with the Warrens, with the Carmels, with the
Ben Davises of the world. And by Eric's second season,
they were playing in the state championship game. Now they
lost that game, depend but they had to beat Ben
Davis to get to that point. And more often than not,

(31:12):
there was kind of a brief dip a handful of
years after that, but more often than not, you simply
gonna listen, they're gonna be in the semi state of worst.
Part of that is geography, but part of that is
and you hear this from coaches a lot. This for first,
the Center Grove community is buying. You know, they have
modified their offense a little bit over the years to

(31:34):
kind of throw the ball a little bit more. Probably
the keep some top level quarterback recruits that don't want
to just hand the ball off in terms of the
wing tea. But it is very much like a cyo
version of a public school program. Everybody at the thirty fours,
the fifty six's middle school football, you run the Center
Drove offense. That's what you do. If not, you are

(31:56):
going to play someplace else, or you're gonna be routed
to a different high school. And so everybody kind of
knows the system knows what to expect. And then there's
the whole you know, success break success in terms of
the atmosphere of the stadium. Let's say it's a good
amount of money down there that's really been hurt, but no,
it is. It is remarkable what Eric did at a

(32:19):
short amount of time and then has sustained down there
for the last quarter century.

Speaker 1 (32:26):
Greg rig Shaw joining us on the Paylist Lookers Hotline
this morning. A lot of high school football around the
region tonight. We've seen the early success of Karma, which
a few folks are surprised by, but anything else over
the first couple of weeks that's kind of raised your eyebrows.

Speaker 8 (32:41):
No, I mean, Carmel is the one to talk about.
And again, you shouldn't be surprised that Carmel wins. You
shouldn't be surprised that Kevin Wright is successful. It is
something to be said that they can match last year's
win total tonight, because they were three and seven and
that was on the heels of a five and five season,
where frankly they had a couple of games bounced their
way later they would have been three and seven the

(33:02):
year before as well. And so again, Kevin Wright is
so good at this level. He's just a good football
coach period. But I think everybody thought that maybe there
is kind of like a building year, but no, there's not. Now,
it helps that you've got multiple D one kids on
the team. Quarterback Anthony Colmer's heading for Troy helps when
you haven't move in. Young man named Dane Bathurst is

(33:23):
their defensive end and he's a D one level kid,
and he had three sacks against Westfield last week. But
the fact that they beat Fishers and Westfield soundly, and
then Fisher's last week after losing to Carmel in Week one,
Fishers goes and beats Lawrence North, who is thought to
be one of the top four or five teams in

(33:44):
the state this year. That kind of tells you how
quickly Kevin has kind of flipped the switch at Carmels.
So now, I mean, there's obviously multiple storylines, but in
terms of the ones that are on my radar and
the schools I see on the regular basis, that's the
storyline so far this year is the fact that they
are two to zero and have been pretty dominant in

(34:04):
those two wins as well.

Speaker 6 (34:05):
Greg Rickshaw joining us here on the playoffs liquors hotline,
always gracious with his time. The last one I have
on the high school scene is the backstory kind of
leading Kevin Wright back to Carmewall.

Speaker 5 (34:15):
I'm not familiar, so if you want to.

Speaker 6 (34:17):
Fill me and the listeners in, you know, his last
game with that program prior to this season was the
twenty fourteen state championship. You finished as the runner up
to Ben Davis. And you know, you look up eleven
years later and he's back in the saddle. So what
had led him back home?

Speaker 4 (34:32):
So to speak?

Speaker 8 (34:33):
One to be home? I mean, that's it, you know.
And again he is the son of the legendary and
now retired Bud Wright that was the head coach since
the dawn of Western civilization Sheridan until the end of
last year. You know, his brother was the head coach
eleven and through a few years. But Kevin, you know,
started at Frankfurt, the Noblesville I'm gonna miss a step

(34:54):
or two along the way, Trinity High School. Warren Central
were he one multi state championships. Kevin and and a
lot of high school coaches are just like players want
to test themselves at a at a bigger level. Well,
there's coaches that you know, you know what, I want
to give this a try in terms of being a
college coach. And so you know, Kevin did that at
Western Kentucky. He took a job down at at at

(35:16):
Union High School on the east side of Tulsa. Uh
and and that place is crazy for many reasons.

Speaker 9 (35:22):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (35:23):
But but in terms of like facilities, expectations, et cetera.
Kevin then was on the staff and you know it
was it was at IMG and helped run that program.

Speaker 4 (35:32):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (35:32):
Then went to Indiana University with Tom Allen, and I
think finally got to a point where he's like, you
know what, maybe it's okay just to be a great
high school coach and let me go home. Uh and
and so kind of when when this job opened up,
when John Hebert wasn't gonna be brought back after the
struggles of the last couple of years, uh, Kevin was
a pretty obvious choice that Kevin was interested in the job.

(35:54):
And clearly you can tell that it's paying off immediately
for the Carmel Grand Great.

Speaker 3 (35:58):
Because that's also you and home of the old Summit
League tournament, that.

Speaker 8 (36:03):
Is correct, And so I spent four more parts of
marches down there as the home of the seventh League tournament.
So yes, this was a high school that had a
fifty six hundred chair back seat arena on its campus
that doubled at the home of a Division one college
basketball tournament. And no one would have known that was

(36:24):
a high school facility when you tuned into ESPN to
watch the championship game. So to some degree, it was
kind of the caramel of Tulsa, Oklahoma's And I'll put
this in Kevin Bowen terms. It's not far from Southern Hills,
so which is where they have major golf events and
things go along that line. So flush with cash down there,

(36:47):
and one of the years that I was doing the
tournament is the year that Kevin was down there as
the head coach. So I kind of around the course
and I think he just kind of surprised you from
their face, and I'm like, you sure you know what
you're getting into down here, buddy, And I think it
was seven and four, and I think I'll go someplace else,
Thank you very much.

Speaker 3 (37:04):
Sounds like a car ride up US thirty one for
you and I here before Notre Dame basketball game, shifting
gears to the Colts. He is, of course, the postgame
show host. He is Greg great Straw Week one coming
up Sunday one o'clock Colts a one and a half
point favorite currently over the Miami Dolphins. The most sure
thing in the positive development that you believe for the

(37:26):
twenty twenty five Colts and the most unknown concern you
have for the twenty twenty five Colts.

Speaker 8 (37:32):
The unknown is is Daniel Jones truly a playoff level quarterback?
You know? Again, he did it in twenty twenty two.
Do I believe that he has better pieces around him
in Indianapolis than he did in New York? Yes, I
believe that to be the case. The most sure thing
for this Colts football team, and again this is the

(37:53):
you know, barring injury, is the guy that will line
up next with Daniel Jones in the backfield and Jonathan Taylor.
I do firmly believe that the Colts have been a
good job of building their roster around the ultimate question,
and that being the quarterback position. But as as it
often does. What's the kiss theory? Keep it simple, stupid?

(38:17):
Is the quarterback enough for this team to be a
playoff team? And that has been the conversation for about
twenty nineteen on and that continues to be the conversation
in twenty twenty five. Is Daniel Jones good enough to
make this a ten win team that gets into the
playoffs for the first time since twenty twenty Yeah, that's.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
Really what everybody's looking at, and we want to see
what that rebuilt defense looks like. What do you expect
against the speed demon Miami Dolphins?

Speaker 8 (38:43):
Good question. I think the defense is better. I mean,
you spend money on guys like Warren and bying them,
you're going to make your defense better. You know, they
have depth in terms of the pass rush game. You know,
from a schematic standpoint, how does a more restler style
of lou Ana Rumo I just translate for the entire season,
but again translates to what Miami has to offer. So,

(39:09):
you know, is this going to be a bigger play defense?
But maybe gives up a few more big plays. That
might be the case. But honestly, again, I think the
defense is going to be good, But I think it
all comes down to is this going to be an
offense that can produce twenty twenty five thirty points we
needed on a regular basis, And I think someday will

(39:31):
be another example of that. So not to shirk your
question on defense, I think it all comes down to
what this team does offensively, week in week.

Speaker 3 (39:38):
Out, Greg, I do have one random one before we
close it out, and as always, we appreciate your time.
We saw and we talked about this a little bit earlier,
Daniel Jones and Riley Leonard making an appearance at the
Carmel Westfield game last week. Certainly Westfield, you know plenty
of Colts ties on their roster.

Speaker 4 (39:54):
There.

Speaker 3 (39:55):
Does Anthony Richardson's little brother play at all? I kind
of forget what here he is, but I was curious
he would be.

Speaker 8 (40:02):
I think it'd be a junior now and I was
kind of scanning the roster for him last week, but
but didn't recognize or make the connection. So not sure,
to be honest with you.

Speaker 5 (40:12):
And they have Cato June's sun right, he's a pretty
good d one.

Speaker 8 (40:16):
And he is going to Sam Houston State. And then
Chris Ballard's son is the starting center. And then Justin
Snow's son Got is getting reps as a tied end
as a freshman at Westfield.

Speaker 5 (40:31):
Wow, geez, yeah, is that cash Ballard?

Speaker 8 (40:36):
I believe so, yes, because because that's because because his
oldest is older boy. But now Kansas right, Yeah, I
got right quite the name.

Speaker 5 (40:45):
That's a good name for a center, I think so.

Speaker 8 (40:48):
More importantly, he's got pretty good size, about sixty three.

Speaker 6 (40:52):
Yeah, he is certainly a football player.

Speaker 4 (40:56):
Rack.

Speaker 5 (40:57):
Thanks for the time, man, and enjoy tonight's games. Is
I know you will?

Speaker 4 (41:01):
All right?

Speaker 8 (41:01):
Sounds good, fellas.

Speaker 1 (41:04):
It's another football Friday. We've already checked in on Operation
Football with Dominic Miranda and w TRH. And then they're
gonna be uh where did he say he was gonna
be out there Beach Grove this morning? Tchr at WTCHR Sorry, thank.

Speaker 3 (41:16):
You, Drove Cecina s ceci na.

Speaker 1 (41:20):
I like it. And we got the Colts coming up
on Sunday afternoon, which brings us to our next order
of business, the one, the only, the voice of the
Indianapolis Colts, one of my favorite people, Matt Taylor, joining
us on the Payless Liquors hotline. Good Friday morning, are
you ready for some football. Matt Taylor.

Speaker 9 (41:37):
I was up at four point thirty this morning, fellas
uh I drove down to the stadium, was hyping everything
up on some local TV stations now talking to you guys.
Were Blue in the Canal later on this morning, Downtown
Blue is gonna be there and then I don't know
what the hell I'm doing this afternoon to calm myself down.

Speaker 10 (41:55):
Good morning.

Speaker 9 (41:56):
I am hyped, I am ready to go. I am
a Colts machine. I am a We have a tornado
of optimism right now for this team and I cannot
wait for seventy thousand packs strong at Lucas Oil Stadium
on Sunday. I am chomping at the bit.

Speaker 10 (42:10):
Let's go.

Speaker 6 (42:11):
I'd love to hear that, Matt Taylor, Voice of the Colts,
And we just had this discussion on the show. If
you're selling the fans on optimism, what are you telling
them to have them hyped up for this year, which
again they've been in the thick of it every year
in this AFC South. What can help this team get
over the hump and get into the dance.

Speaker 9 (42:30):
It's a great question, and I've said this so many
times over the offseason. The Colts know what time it is, right,
they missed the playoffs four years in a row, and
in three of those four seasons they've won at least
eight games, And so they're banging on the door. They're
knocking on the door, but they're on the outside looking in, right,
whatever analogy you want to use on the other side

(42:51):
of the fence, NFL purgatory. But that's why you know,
they made such a sense of urgency about this quarter
back competition, you know, dating back to the combine when
they announced their playing to bring somebody in to push
Anthony Richardson, to give them some more consistency at the
quarterback position. I think Daniel Jones definitely does that, especially

(43:12):
if you get the high end version of Daniel Jones,
you know, that twenty twenty two version of him, And
you know, I think it's very objective to say that.
You know, his weaponry here with the Colts is way
more powerful than he ever had consistently with the Giants. Right,
He's got Jonathan Taylor in an offensive line, he's got
three receivers last year who went over eight hundred yards,

(43:34):
and they drafted Tyler Warren and then defensively, a new scheme,
and I mean just going going all out, you know,
to make sure that that side of the ball works
the way it needs to work under Luis Arumo from
you know, the back to the front and the secondary
Tarvarius Ward and Cam bye them and even when the
depth does get tested in the offseason and training camp.

Speaker 10 (43:55):
You don't just sit around. You don't just hope.

Speaker 9 (43:57):
Now you go out, man, you you bang that door
down again. You can bring in Xavian Howard, you make
a trade, you get in Makai Blackman. So they definitely
understand how that side of the ball is supposed to
work and they need the horses no pun intended to
make that happen. But also too, I'm just you know,
it's time. I think everybody understands like the core group

(44:18):
of these players have underperformed, especially on defense, Like there's
too much individual talent on that side of the ball,
even if it is a new scheme, right, I mean
the Gus Bradley version compared to that elumin in a room.
I think the guys on defense have held themselves accountable
for their failures the last couple of years on that
side of the ball. Again, pro Bowl players, pro Bowl

(44:39):
caliber players and all three levels of that defense. Just
way too much talent on that side of the ball.
I don't care what scheme you're running. They shouldn't be
finished in twenty fifth and scoring and you know thirtieth
and opponent completion percentage and all of these different metrics
that you need to be good in to have a
good defense, and just haven't been able to do that
the last couple of years. So I think guys are

(45:00):
coming in with a chip on their shoulder the lack
of a better term, get the dump button, dump button ready.
I think they're pissed off, and I'm excited to see
how it kind of manifests itself. Coming up on Sunday.

Speaker 3 (45:11):
That is Voice of the Colts, Matt Taylor. He's with
us here on the Payless Slickers hotline. Matt, I have
been out in public a lot lately, and I cannot
tell you how many people have come up to me
and said, I am looking forward to Matt Taylor's Tidbits
when we get to Fridays at nine o'clock season.

Speaker 5 (45:30):
So with that, you hear it in.

Speaker 3 (45:32):
The background, Taylor's Tidbits, the encyclopedia. He will give us
all of it coming up on Sunday at one o'clock,
actually probably pregame starting in noon.

Speaker 4 (45:42):
But love it.

Speaker 1 (45:43):
What tidbits do we have for a week?

Speaker 3 (45:45):
One from the voice of the Colts, Matt Taylor, Colts
and Dolphins.

Speaker 9 (45:49):
That music is back, baby, music to my ears. Let's
get a rolling.

Speaker 8 (45:52):
Taylor's tidbit Number one.

Speaker 9 (45:54):
We know about the focal point of this offense this year,
It's going to be Jonathan Taylor. Shansteiken said that there's
still going to run the offense through the ground game.
Jonathan Taylor last year over fourteen hundred yards, but he
averaged over twenty one carries per game, and that workhorse
status was really accentuated down the stretch last year. The
final eight games of the year, he had two hundred

(46:16):
and six total touches and basically the last half of
the season. Now, the other two backs on the roster
at the time in that stretch, those guys would be
Tray Sermon and Tyler Goodson, and the last eight games
of the season, those guys handled the ball just twenty
three times total, fifteen touches for Sermon, eight for Goodson.
Taylor's workload and the final eight games of last year

(46:39):
if you extrapolate that over the course of seventeen games
in twenty twenty five, that would equal, based off my mass,
four hundred.

Speaker 10 (46:47):
And thirty eight carries for the season.

Speaker 9 (46:51):
Yikes, boys, yikes, that is not good. I mean, Jonathan
Taylor is obviously top five in the league, but I
don't think you want to be given the ball any
to anybody four hundred plus times.

Speaker 8 (47:02):
In a season.

Speaker 9 (47:03):
So I'm really eager to see what the role is
right out of the gate for a guy like DJ Hidden.
What's Tyler Goodson's going to give you on offense from
a percentage of the pie standpoint, And you know, you
just got to be able to I mean, Johnathan Taylor's
got to be the.

Speaker 10 (47:17):
Focal point, there's no question about it. But you can't
be the only focal points, right. There's got to be
more balanced with than this offense. You guys have talked
about it. I've talked about it.

Speaker 9 (47:26):
You got to exploit the middle of the field better.
You've got to be able to get your shots or
have the threats of the shots and the chunks deatball
game in the passing game to spread out that defense sideline.

Speaker 4 (47:37):
The sideline then I think you really got something.

Speaker 9 (47:39):
With Johnathan Taylor being able to reach his full potential
while balancing out in the past, and the big playability
that you have on the outside, specifically the guys like
ad Mitchell and Alex Pierce.

Speaker 10 (47:49):
Last year he led in the NFL on yards per catch.

Speaker 3 (47:52):
Are you thinking DJ Giddens as the first man up
or what a Tyler, a healthy Tyler Goodson be first
man up?

Speaker 4 (47:59):
There?

Speaker 9 (48:00):
You know, I'm gonna sit here and I'm going to
say I don't know, and I might just be contradicting
myself because again, I think over the course of seventeen games,
you want to focus on Jonathan Taylor, but you also
need to balance out the passing game too. But in
this game with so many unknowns, with goods and bangs
up with the elbow, although he has been practicing this week,
but still a little bit of a question mark for
Sunday's game. And then with Giddens, you know, he's a rookies.

(48:22):
He's never playing the game, so you don't know what
to expect. I'm just assuming here that it would be
a little bit of a stretch to say that the
Colts are going to give him, you know, eight to
ten carries right out of the gate, so I wouldn't
be shocked to see Jonathan Taylor get you know, twenty
twenty two to twenty three carries on Sunday. But then
over the course of the early season, I think that

(48:44):
number could go down based on the amount of trust
that the coaching staff and the the guys on offense
would continue to have and see from what they get
out of DJ Giddens based on his productivity.

Speaker 5 (48:56):
All right, that was quite the tease.

Speaker 3 (48:57):
I know, Taylor tidbit number two will even exceed our expectations.

Speaker 9 (49:02):
All right, here we go. We got the Dolphins coming
up to a tongue of viola. He's back on offense.
He's missed the last two games with the Colts, or
his first two opportunities to play against the Colts with concussions,
so this is going to be his first start ever
against the Colts. And last year the Dolphins went six
and five with two in the lineup, they averaged twenty
four points per game. But Miami was two and four

(49:25):
without him in the lineup, and they averaged only thirteen
points per game. And they've really struggled over the course
of time. I mean to his concussion. You know, his
problems staying on the field in terms of head injuries
have been well chronicled. He's missed fifteen games the last
couple of years. But the thing that really stands out
to me is that, you know, the playmakers just really

(49:46):
struggle when he's not in there. I mean, he's a
great quarterback, but there's a big time drop off. So
you've got Tyreek hill Is Jalen Waddle. Neither of those
guys has scored a receiving touchdown without two a tongue
of viola as the starting quarterback since the twenty twenty
two seasons, So there's a drastic impact when that.

Speaker 1 (50:09):
Might be the craziest thing You've said for a while.

Speaker 9 (50:12):
Yeah, well, I'm full of them boys. I'm full of
crazy stuff.

Speaker 4 (50:15):
You know.

Speaker 5 (50:15):
You just got to talk to Matt Taylor more often, Jeff.

Speaker 4 (50:17):
Yeah, that's the deal.

Speaker 9 (50:19):
I mean, Tua is he's statistically one of the best
quarterbacks in the game. He's a quick, timing, in rhythm quarterback.

Speaker 10 (50:26):
He likes to get those completions that keep.

Speaker 9 (50:28):
You on schedule down in distance wise, you know, second
and four, third and two in the last three years
in consecutive order. He's led the NFL in passer rating,
passing yards, and completion percentage. A quarterback like Tua in
years pass against this Colts defense would have been the
Colts defense nightmares. But now they've got a new scheme,

(50:50):
You're going to be playing a little bit more aggressive,
especially on the outside, maybe.

Speaker 4 (50:53):
Some press man.

Speaker 9 (50:54):
I don't know if you're going to see a shadow
job tomorrow with Tarvarius Ward on Jalen Waddle, but this
is going to be a huge test for just like
how different and how aesthetically different this Colts defense looks
going up against a premier quarterback in Tua who's healthy.

Speaker 10 (51:11):
You see him right out of the gate.

Speaker 9 (51:12):
And again, in years past, this would have been the
kryptonite offense against the Colts defense.

Speaker 6 (51:17):
How much do you think laatu Latsu will factor into
that timing when it comes to just putting some pressure
on Tua because we know a lot too. He's a
first round pick and the next sessions are high.

Speaker 9 (51:28):
Yeah, I mean, it's a great question.

Speaker 10 (51:30):
I think obviously he has to have I mean not
only on Sunday, but just for the season.

Speaker 9 (51:34):
He's got to have a big season. The Colts needs
someone desperately to turn into a scud if they need
somebody of that group that when the game's on the
line and the double team and the focus of the
offensive line is you know, shifting or shading towards that
one guy in a huge moment, that one guy still
needs to go out there and make a play and

(51:55):
disrupt the timing. And so you know, for this game though,
it's going to be tough because Tua, like I said,
he's a quick rhythm, balls out quick type of a quarterback,
high contention percentage guy. It's more on this game. I
think it's more on the disruption responsibility of the secondary,
you know, to disrupt timing on route and route combinations.

(52:16):
And we used to call it in college when I play,
we used to call reroute guys right and make them
get off their path on a reroute by you know,
one or two steps to disrupt the timing of the
play in the vision of to Atungueo viola. So that's
what I think is huge on Sunday. Yes, the pass
rush has to be there, but with the ball getting
out so quickly from Tuas, the secondary has to do

(52:37):
their part and maybe then some to disrupt the timing
from the passing games in Miami.

Speaker 1 (52:42):
Matt Taylor, voice of the Indianapolis Colts on the Payless
Lakers hotline player not named the new player not named
Tyler Warren that will make Colts fans the happiest.

Speaker 9 (52:53):
Ooh, I think it's got to be Daniel Jones. I mean,
Daniel Jones has to make everybody happy in order to
be happy on Sunday. I mean, I heard you guys
earlier talking about the stat line.

Speaker 10 (53:03):
For him, he just needs to go out there and
be himself.

Speaker 9 (53:06):
And he also understands that, you know, he needs to
complete sixty to sixty five percent of his passes, you know,
stay within the offense. And that's why he's there. It's
to be, you know, the consistent quarterback in terms of
ball placement, overall accuracy. Pre snap recognition is the biggest thing.
They love his ability to do that, to be able
to get out of bad plays into good plays at

(53:28):
the line of scrimmage, interpret what the secondary is doing.
But he also understands too, He's been doing this a
long time and he is, uh, you know, going into
I think what the Sunday his seventy first career starts.
Inevitably in any NFL game when the stakes are high,
any quarterback has to win from the pocket. Right, you

(53:49):
can ride Jonathan Taylor and he can go you know,
over one hundred and fifty yards in this game potentially,
but inevitably, he's got to make four to five throws
on Sunday that flat out win game. And those are
kind of sprinkled throughout the course of a sixty minute game.
They might be in the first quarter when you need
a big third down conversion, or they might come in
the second half when you need to needle the ball

(54:11):
on a tight window inside the red zone or get
a big play down the sideline to Alec Pierce to
set you up for a scoring opportunity. Those are the
big plays of the crunch time, clutch throws in completions
that every quarterback in the NFL has to make to
win a football a game. And so that's the responsibility
of a quarterback. Try to stay within himself, but also no,

(54:33):
when those moments are there, Daniel Jones has to step up,
has to deliver for this offense.

Speaker 1 (54:38):
Always good to talk to may Tayo. We're welcome here
every Friday, and even beyond and two through nine, ten
seventy the text line what would your textan let? What
would your text line name be? I'm just curious.

Speaker 9 (54:49):
Oh man, Well, I've probably try to stay under the
radar and the weeds a little bit.

Speaker 8 (54:55):
I don't know.

Speaker 9 (54:55):
I might go with Colts Grimlin five or something, you
know that was great off the top of your head,
I know, the Kevin Bowen trolling eater. I don't know.

Speaker 4 (55:05):
I mean, I know, I.

Speaker 9 (55:09):
Try to stay above the fray a little bit.

Speaker 4 (55:11):
When you you talk about you know.

Speaker 9 (55:14):
YouTube chat responses and Twitter, Twitter dms, it's uh.

Speaker 8 (55:18):
It can bring out.

Speaker 9 (55:19):
The worst in people, but we try to have fun
with them.

Speaker 8 (55:22):
We don't, Yeah, we don't.

Speaker 9 (55:24):
We don't take ourselves too seriously. We're not digging ditches.
We're very fortunate to be able to do what we
do and have fun with it, and so really excited
for Sunday.

Speaker 1 (55:32):
Always good to talk to you, mate, Thank you so much,
and have a great game on Sunday afternoon.

Speaker 4 (55:36):
Matt, all right, guys, be well.