ColtsSpeak: Andrew Nabb

PhilB: What have you been noticing at Colts training camp?

Andrew: I’ve been noticing (defensive tackle/end) Tyquan Lewis. It seems that everybody is really excited about him. I’ve kind of had my eye on him since he was drafted in the second round, but through injuries, there hasn’t been much of an impact so far. I’m excited that he’s healthy and doing well out there.

PhilB: I know how frustrated he’s been the past two years. I was looking at this year, maybe his spot being up for grabs and him being on the bubble. He’s flat-out impressed everybody. Who else jumps out at you?

Andrew: I’m worried about (quarterback) Philip Rivers. I keep hearing and keep reading that he’s doing well, he knows the offense, and the backs are going to get tons of work. I love hearing that. Those are his strong points. But I’m just really interested to see how he is throwing the ball down the field, because if he can’t do that with any sort of good consistency and he can’t get the ball in T.Y. Hilton’s hands, there are going to be big problems facing 10 guys within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, if not 11, you know what I mean? They can throw to the backs all day long if they want to, but if there’s 10 or 11 guys within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, they’re not going to pick up anything. They’re going to get punished.

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PhilB: I’ll be the first one to point out that if you were bringing him in to dump the ball off, you could have had Jacoby Brissett do that.

Andrew: Absolutely, I mean they were very conservative with the play-calling with Jacoby. He did that well, he was doing excellent at that the first half of the season until he got banged up. Check-downs don’t get you to 12-4, right? Even if you’re a good football team and the guy throws check-downs, maybe that gets you to 9-7. Is that good enough in the AFC this year? I don’t know. I don’t even know if they’re going to get 16 games in this year. I sure hope so.

PhilB: It’s a valid concern. I’m glad you mentioned it. I’ve seen a lot of dumping off in practice. You just wonder about the longer throws. He missed Parris Campbell 20 yards down the field in the Lucas Oil Stadium workout. I know you probably didn’t want to hear that.

Andrew: Not at all. Parris Campbell, to me, he’s the guy you want on those drag routes, 5-to-7 yards off the line, coming straight across. Whether or not he can hold up taking shots coming across the middle, I don’t know, he may be a bit fragile as well, but you’ve got to love that speed of his. I watched Rivers with some interest last year because the writing was a little bit on the wall for him coming to the Colts after Andrew Luck’s retirement. There’s some heavy wobble in his downfield passes, which scares the crap out of me. These training camp defenses, these guys are practicing too, so they’re not keying on the short pass like these other teams, who are going to game plan for that. That could be a huge problem. That’s my biggest concern for the year. I’m excited about (rookie quarterback) Jacob Eason getting a year to learn from Philip Rivers. The arm talent is there. It’s just a matter of whether he has it between the ears.

PhilB: His arm is as advertised. He has the strongest arm in camp.

Andrew: How does he look? Is he accurate?

PhilB: The problem is he’s not getting quality reps. He got on the field with the bottom of the roster at Lucas Oil Stadium and completed half of his passes with a couple of drops. The Colts have been positive in their comments. Someone said they thought he made his best throw in camp to Dezmon Patmon, who made a great over-the-shoulder catch. I see him throwing the ball on the side, and it’s effortless, on a line, tight spiral. What we don’t know is the X factor. I’ve written about that. Not trying to trash him, but there’s a reason a guy drops two or three rounds in the draft. I was just reporting what was out there.

Andrew: You’ve got to be able to tell it the way it is, right?

PhilB: I don’t know if it’s true or not, but NFL scouts thought so.

Andrew: NFL scouts love arm strength. If he was that polished, he would have gone first round. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

PhilB: Yeah, I’ve read that Jordan Love is nowhere near being NFL-ready in Green Bay, and yet they traded up into the first round to get him because of his arm strength. They ignored his interceptions or the fact that he played against lesser competition. A guy like Eason dropped all the way to the fourth round although some thought he had the best arm in the draft.

Andrew: Jordan Love, I wanted no part of him. I was happy with the DeForest Buckner trade.

PhilB: Yeah, I was going to ask you about the Buckner trade. I know it surprised me and probably surprised you too, but I loved it.

Andrew: Hell yeah, it was a big surprise, totally out of left field. I thought for sure San Francisco was going to get rid of Arik Armstead. He was good last year, but his body of work before that was spotty at best. And Buckner has been great for the past several years. I can’t believe they let him go to us. And for just a first-round pick, too? Unbelievable. What did the Bills pay for Stefon Diggs? A receiver, sure he’s a good receiver, but you can find receivers. You can’t find players like DeForest Buckner. And for some reason, at a cheaper price tag? Unbelievable. I thought it was great. I was really happy. Obviously I had dreams of Jadeveon Clowney or making a move for Melvin Ingram to bookend with Justin Houston on the other side. But I’m really excited about Kemoko Turay as well because he really flashed big-time before he got hurt last year. He could really be something special.

PhilB: The D-line has really impressed me. I knew I’d be impressed with Buckner, just his size. The way he stands there, he looks imposing. Justin Houston sounds enthused about proving he’s worth another contract. Tyquan, we talked about. Kemoko hasn’t practiced yet. You know, Grover Stewart works his butt off inside. He’s kind of a classic overachiever, him and Al-Quadin Muhammad. People sleep on them, but they always seem to get on the field and get snaps because they work their butts off. This D-line has impressed me more than in previous years. And there’s a ripple effect with Buckner. You can’t double team Houston. You can’t shed that block on Buckner too quickly to get upfield and hit Darius Leonard. He’s going to run around like a mad man, Leonard always does, but now even more so.

Andrew: I love how Darius Leonard plays the game. He processes so quickly and so well, he’s spot on diagnosing what is going on most of the time. He does get fooled occasionally, but for the most part, he sees it the way it is and he really gets from point A to point B in a hurry. He’s a phenomenal athlete, such a great pick. I had no idea. He was not on my radar whatsoever.

PhilB: The guys you remember the most are the ones who are really hard on themselves. Reggie Wayne taught me it’s about the plays he didn’t make, not the ones he made. Darius is the same way. Darius will tell you all the things he did wrong and what he needs to clean up. I think he grades himself harder than coordinator Matt Eberflus grades, and Eberflus is a harsh grader. Darius has a list of offseason goals and tells us he only met two or three. They start with Super Bowl champion, NFL MVP, and so on.

Andrew: He’s a complete Maniac. I love that attitude. Such a hard-working attitude. I love it. No prima donna in that guy, whatsoever.

PhilB: What did you think about the rest of the draft?

Andrew: I would love to see the receiver Dezmon Patmon. I’m intrigued. I’ve read good things. I haven’t seen too much of him, but I’m excited about him. He could add a quality fourth or fifth option. You definitely need depth there. (Offensive guard) Danny Pinter, I’m interested in too, but I haven’t seen too much about him. I just read how Tyquan Lewis abused him and made a play on the quarterback. But I have hopes for him because I really liked it. Trading up for (running back) Jonathan Taylor was a bit of a surprise to me, especially with having Marlon Mack, but you can’t be too upset with a guy who had like 6,000 yards in three years (in college). I’m kind of in a little bit of a wait-and-see with it, but I totally trust GM Chris Ballard. He picks people off my radar and is pretty consistently bang on. He has the scouting background. I think they have a much better scouting program, much better than my eyes. I’m excited to see how some of these guys turn out. Darius Leonard, he was drafted in the second round? He was completely off my radar. There were a few guys I was hoping they were going to pick up at the time, now, I can’t imagine a better player to have from that draft than Darius Leonard. I fully trust Ballard.

PhilB: I like Chris a lot. If the Rivers thing doesn’t work out, I give him credit for taking a shot. You know it was Frank Reich selling him on it. I like the fact that the GM went with his head coach. I won’t be hard on Frank, either, but this one will be on him if it doesn’t work. But I like Frank, too. I like his style. I like how he coaches. I like his character, the players respond to it. There’s no doubt in my mind the Colts are in good hands. I give them a pass for last year. They didn’t see Andrew Luck retiring. I thought the world of Andrew and hated the fact they didn’t protect him until the end, and by then, he was beaten up enough that he didn’t need it anymore. He got hit more than anybody when he played. But I think the Colts are headed back in the right direction. Do you have a prediction for the season?

Andrew: I think we’re going to win the AFC South Division by a game. With all this COVID-19, it’s really tough for me to give you a record, like 10-6.

PhilB: That’s what I said in my preview, 10-6. But 11-5 is doable because they only play one team the first eight weeks with a winning record from 2019.

Andrew: I love the early schedule. I feel like we’ve had some really tough starts the past few years, where we were happy to be 2-2 or 3-1. This year, I feel like we could be 5-2 by Week 8. I think it’s the Colts’ division to lose, and I look forward to being back in the playoffs this year.

PhilB: Who is your favorite Colts player of all-time?

Andrew: My all-time favorite Colt, and probably will always be, Bob Sanders. I loved me some Bob Sanders, the way he played the game. He was like Chuck Norris. He was everywhere and nowhere at the same time, such an animal. I loved watching Bob Sanders play.

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