ColtsSpeak: Trey Brummett

The latest ColtsSpeak conversation is with Indianapolis Colts fan Trey Brummett, 30, of Knightstown, Ind. The Colts fan since he was 13 shares his views in a question-and-answer chat with AllColts.com editor Phillip B. Wilson.

PhilB: How are you feeling about your Colts today?

Trey: I’m OK. There’s a few question marks I had. I really wasn’t a big fan of the (quarterback) Philip Rivers signing when it first happened. It’s grown on me. I truly liked Jacoby Brissett. I know a lot of people don’t agree with me on that. I know that he falls apart after he throws a pick or has a fumble. He kind of goes downhill from there. But Philip Rivers, to me, he’s older, and he’s kind of on the decline. I understand we wanted a bridge. I don’t think Jacob Eason is our future. He kind of falls apart when there isn’t a pocket. He can’t move. He’s too tall. The NFL is kind of going toward a smaller, more athletic quarterback. I know the NFL kind of goes back and forth on that. I just don’t have a lot of faith in him. I see him more as an insurance policy. He kind of fits Philip Rivers’ style of play. I’d like to see a lot more read-option out of Jacoby. I know he’s not very fast, but I’d like to see a designed run or two to keep teams honest. I wish Jacoby would push the ball downfield more. He’s hesitant. It’s like he’s thinking in split seconds, ‘Is this the right decision as I’m throwing it.’

PhilB: I tried to keep an open mind on Jacoby. I’ve been critical of him for the obvious reasons, the same things you’ve seen. There was a route in Houston where Jack Doyle just double-moved a linebacker, twisted his knees out of him, and he couldn’t have been more wide open on a square in about 30 yards downfield. Not only did Brissett not throw it to him, he didn’t see it. Here’s the thing I’m wondering about, if the injury in Pittsburgh messed with his head.

Trey: He was on a roll before that. I could see that.

PhilB: That’s me trying to have an open mind with you and everybody else, and not always be so critical.

Trey: Don’t feel bad, everybody makes fun of me because I like Jacoby. I think he’s our best option. We’re going to continue to try to win, so we’re not going to be in these top-10 picks to try and get a good quarterback. I think Patrick Mahomes, he landed at 10. That’s never going to happen. It’s either we’re going to keep doing this free-agent circus or mid-round draft picks. Not very often do mid-round picks like a Russell Wilson come around. We might turn into a cycle of free agent, free agent, free agent, and mid-round, mediocre picks. Jacoby has had a little bit of a different football life, too. He went to the Patriots, he gets traded, hey we’re going to start you, we’re going to sit you. I have faith in him. If Rivers retires this year, I’d like to give Jacoby the same contract we gave him last year. Give it to him again, if Rivers is out. If Jacoby messes up, he messes up and we start over. One other thing about Jacoby, character, 100 percent character. He is the locker room, you know what I mean? He’s what you want your leader to be. He’s cool, calm, collected, doesn’t get mad, he’s not a drama queen. OK, I’m done on Jacoby.

PhilB: So what else is on your mind?

Trey: If you want to talk defensive lineman, I read an article yesterday that Denico Autry is going to be moved over to end? I don’t like Kemoko Turay, he’s kind of injury prone.

PhilB: They’ve got like four or five guys. We asked (GM) Chris Ballard and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus about moving Autry out there.

Trey: He’s tall, he’s long, he’s lean.

PhilB: They said he’ll probably get a shot at end. What did you think of the DeForest Buckner trade?

Trey: I really, really, really liked that trade. I’m never for giving up a first-round pick, especially 13, we could have gotten anybody we wanted. I was really looking at wide receiver Jerry Jeudy. But I’m not Chris Ballard. That guy can work magic in a second. Even if we got a top-10 pick one day or maybe next year we’re looking at (QB) Trevor Lawrence at No. 2, Chris is going to trade back. That’s what Chris Ballard does. Buckner, he’s also tall, lean and fast. He’s going to play the three-technique in the middle. It’s interior pressure. I know we’ve been crying for years, ever since Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney left us, man, we need edge rushers, we need edge rushers. But the way the NFL is kind of moving, you need to get guys out of the pocket, so I understand why they got DeForest Buckner, push it up the middle, get those guys moving outside where they’re inaccurate and on the wrong.

PhilB: I have some questions about the secondary, but I like how young this defense is and could be sneaky good this year.

Trey: Corner always makes me nervous. And let’s talk about safety Malik Hooker, how they’re not going to exercise that fifth-year option. Malik Hooker has not been able to play the position he’s made to play. He’s meant to be an over-the-top safety, cover the whole field, sit back and watch the quarterback, dissect the play down. But we’ve had such poor cornerback play in recent years, Kenny Moore is our best corner and he’s like a 5-foot-8 linebacker who can cover tight ends. Cornerback Pierre Desir, we gave him what I thought was big money for his production but we had a lot of cap space - we were kind of generous with deals - but then we release him and he goes to the Jets. He was good, but not that good. We’ve got Rock Ya-Sin and T.J. Carrie, we got him from the Browns. There’s not a lot of names there. I’m struggling sitting here trying to think who our cornerbacks are. I know we drafted safety Julian Blackmon, I’m really excited about that guy, but I know he’s coming back from an ACL tear and it’s going to take some time.

PhilB: What do you think about second-round pick Michael Pittman Jr. I’ve written he could be the Colts best big receiver since Reggie Wayne.

Trey: We needed a possession receiver since Reggie Wayne. He really wasn’t that tall, but he was a really good possession receiver. We’ve really been lacking that ever since he left. We signed Devin Funchess last year, then he breaks his collarbone on like his second catch. I thought we would re-sign him.

PhilB: I did, too. It only cost $3 million to get him back.

Trey: It was stupid cheap. At the same time, when you have the opportunity to draft somebody and not pay them nothing, like Michael Pittman Jr., with the same skillset, why not? Who else did we get? Running back Jonathan Taylor. Oh my God, I’m so excited about Jonathan Taylor. I have way more hopes and dreams than I should probably have for him. He’s a Wisconsin product like Melvin Gordon. I’m thinking like an Eddie George career. This guy is going to be awesome. I love running back Marlon Mack. I hope we can have a consistent 1-2 punch with them. I love Marlon Mack, always have, but he’s struggled running in the middle. He’s a smaller guy. We do have an awesome O-line. But Jonathan Taylor, to me, he’s the stereotypical back. When you close your eyes and dream of a running back, that’s who it is. A 2,000-yard rusher (twice). He had 900-plus career carries at Wisconsin, which kind of makes me nervous. But I am excited about him. Fumbles are a concern, but he’s young and you can teach that out of him.

PhilB: How nervous are you about whether we’ll have a season?

Trey: My girlfriend is an infection preventionist at Rush Memorial Hospital, so she deals with this coronavirus ordeal. I’m a numbers guy, an inventory clerk. A few weeks ago, I did some math on it. In Henry County where I live, there’s 47,000 people and only 30 positive cases. So that’s .063 percent of the population that was sick enough to go get tested. So I’m not going to sweat .063 percent. She’s a little more serious about it than I am. I hope to God we have a season. I don’t care if it’s a third of the fans. They can make this work. If you want to have zero fans, have zero fans. There’s testing everywhere now. I want a season. I’ll be very upset if we do not have a season.

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