ColtsSpeak: Aaron Coffey

PhilB: Have you been paying attention to Colts camp?

Aaron: I’ve been trying to keep in touch. They’re not allowing a lot of people out there, but I’ve been able to watch a couple of clips they’ve posted, Jonathan Taylor lowering the boom on Tavon Wilson, throwing that shoulder down and seeing Philip Rivers, that connection already with T.Y. Hilton, and seeing Parris Campbell out there active, too. I try to keep up as much as I can.

PhilB: Anybody you’re particularly excited about this year?

Aaron: It’s hard not to get excited about Philip Rivers. You have to hope he kind of returns to that Hall-of-Fame form. I’m pretty excited about some of these rookies, Michael Pittman Jr., Jonathan Taylor. Taylor is one of those guys they talk about, such a decorated collegiate runner and he’s got some miles on him, but he’s physical and he’s fast, and just kind of seeing what that backfield looks like. The offensive line is set to be just as good as last year, if not a little bit better. It’s hard every year not to be excited about Darius Leonard. Now he’s starting to really find himself in the league, so he’s one of those guys year-in-and-year-out I’m excited to watch him play.

PhilB: I should ask about Rivers because everybody has an opinion on him. I’ve liked what I’ve seen of him in camp. Do you like the move?

Aaron: Oh yeah, we obviously paid him a pretty significant amount, $25 million for the year. Obviously, they’ve got faith in him. He’s got some connection with head coach Frank Reich and offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni. Even last year, I keep seeing everyone call him a turnover machine, he definitely had his share of turnovers, he was giving it away a little bit, but being a Colts fan as long as I have, the Colts and the Chargers have played each other many a times, quite a few times in the playoffs, and Philip Rivers I feel like often times kind of got that last laugh. I like him because I feel like he’s not afraid to just let it go. He’s not afraid to throw it. Even if he throws an interception or two interceptions in a game, he’s still just going to throw it. That kind of reminds me about Andrew Luck when he was in here. He would have a couple of games where he would throw three picks, but he’d come out and throw five touchdowns. I’m excited about it. There’s obviously a ton of experience. He still threw for an incredible amount of yards last year even though he had those picks. I think there’s upside with a guy like that, maybe he’s downgrading a little bit with his receivers, he was working with Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, and now he’s got T.Y. Hilton, who I still think is a top receiver. That offensive line just buys people time. Any quarterback in the league is going to be above average if you give him four or five seconds to throw it. I think we have enough weapons, even with Eric Ebron gone, T.Y. Hilton, Parris Campbell, Zach Pascal, Michael Pittman Jr., and you talk about the tight ends, Jack Doyle and Trey Burton, and then you throw the running backs in there who can catch, Nyheim Hines is like that Darren Sproles type, who obviously benefitted from Philip Rivers in the past. I think if there was any situation for him to land in, this is probably one of the more ideal places for him to go if he wants to return to that form. At the end of the day, he’s a Hall of Fame quarterback. I’m just hoping that we can get one good year out of him, if not a couple.

PhilB: Shifting toward defense, how did you feel about GM Chris Ballard trading for DeForest Buckner?

Aaron: Oh man, that one really caught me off guard.

PhilB: It caught everyone off guard.

Aaron: (Ballard) is not the type of guy to throw away first-round picks, but I think that’s why this one is special because it’s not a throw-away pick. He had to feel good about it. This guy is 26, he’s not even in his prime yet. He’s playing at an incredible level for a defensive tackle, of all positions. I saw somebody take a picture of the Colts D-line, and he’s easily three inches taller than everybody else out there. It’s kind of like when Margus Hunt was out there. You obviously give up the first-round pick and a lot of people are bummed out that we didn’t have that pick anymore, but we do have DeForest Buckner. We had to pay him a little bit of money there. They had the room to do it. You hear constantly trust in Ballard, and that’s kind of the mentality I have. A lot of the decisions he’s made have paid off in a really big way, especially on defense. I like the trade. You don’t really have to cripple yourself financially to get him. I think he was fantastic in San Francisco. I think he’s going to be just as good if not better here. He’s got a lot of names around him. Him and Darius Leonard, you hear those two headline your defense, you can’t help but get excited.

PhilB: I can tell you I’ve been asked about Rivers and Buckner more than anyone else. Rivers gets rid of the ball quick, he’s smart, and it looks like he’s adjusting really well. And Buckner, from the first moment I saw him, he looks like a monster, an absolute beast.

Aaron: You want to have that guy who everybody gravitates to on defense. Darius Leonard was kind of that guy. Now you have someone else in Buckner. You mentioned Rivers, I would expect nothing less, especially for a guy who has been around so long. That’s really what you need out of the quarterback position. That’s kind of what they’ve lacked with (Jacoby) Brissett. He had some flashes of really knowing what he was doing and really being an above-average quarterback, but there were some times where his inexperience and his decision-making just wasn’t as quick as it needed to be. That’s what you get with Rivers. He’s a guy who if he wants to can lob it up and let the receiver do his job, or he can let it go to a running back out of the backfield. That’s kind of Frank Reich’s whole thing, wanting to get the ball out quick, let these playmakers play. You’ve got a guy like Philip Rivers in there, if I were a receiver or a running back on that team, I would be thrilled to know that’s the guy throwing me the ball.

PhilB: What’s your season prediction?

Aaron: I wasn’t quite sure if the addition of Rivers was quite enough to boost them into that Super Bowl-contention spot. I have no doubt they will be fighting for the AFC South Division. Houston took a big blow when they got rid of DeAndre Hopkins. Tennessee could come back and do great things, or we could see Derrick Henry regress and we could see Ryan Tannehill kind of do Ryan Tannehill things. We’re definitely going to be fighting for the decision. I would not at all be surprised, especially now that they’ve expanded the playoffs, to see them be a playoff team. Whether they can put it all together and really push for a Super Bowl, I don’t think there’s going to be any lack of motivation. Philip Rivers has to be a guy who is salivating for a Super Bowl. DeForest Buckner as well. He obviously came real close, he didn’t quite get it, so he’s got to be salivating. This Colts team, especially on defense, has always been so hungry. They’re so ready to just get out there and do these things that we haven’t seen in a long time. They’re so young and fast. If you told me the Colts were going to the Super Bowl, I’m probably going to doubt you a little bit, but I wouldn’t rule it out. I would say division for sure. If for whatever reason Tennessee figures it out, you’re still looking at a wild card potentially. I don’t think this is a throw-away season by any means. For someone who has been a Colts fan for so long, spoiled by the Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck era of pretty much playoffs every year, we’ve kind of been brought back down to earth these last few years with Houston and Tennessee doing well. But I think we’re not too far off from the Colts rising back up in the AFC South and claiming that title.

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