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INDIANAPOLIS – One week before a pivotal draft for his franchise, Jim Irsay had quite a bit to share.

The Owner of the Colts hopped on the Ride with JMV on Wednesday afternoon for a wide-ranging interview.

Here are some highlights from Irsay’s conversation with JMV:

  • On addressing draft needs: “I think we have a chance to be pretty special if we can find 3 corners that are really capable guys. I feel we have at least 2 now. That’s going to make a huge difference. Looking for the edge rushers, we are aware of that. Chris is aware of it. Believe me, it’s a high priority to make that happen, as it is at left tackle to get that covered. And that’s not a small thing. Yes, you would love to add that Dallas Clark tight end, that X-factor that changes everything offensively and that’s easier said than done. We are trying to look at accenting our strengths. When you look at Nyheim (Hines) and Jonathan (Taylor), that’s a rare combination now. And Marlon (Mack) is completely capable of coming back and I haven’t forgot what a great football player he is. If anything, I think he’s been underrated. I think besides Edgerrin (James) and Marshall (Faulk) and Eric (Dickerson), (Mack’s) been just an outstanding football player for us. I’m really excited about where we are going. We quietly signed some guys we weren’t sure if we were going to get back, but we did. My expectations are very high this year. Our goal is to contend for a Super Bowl.”

 

  • On Carson Wentz: “Let’s be honest about the situation, how well is Carson Wentz going to do, I think that is really going to dictate just how far we go. That’s just reality. I’m not saying that as a headline. Now, he needs support. He needs people around him. We saw the Super Bowl and (Patrick) Mahomes with no (offensive) tackles. He looked pedestrian. That’ll happen because you need support. But, really, if Frank Reich can get Carson Wentz’s play to an extremely high level and we feel that he can, and Carson, unquestionably, has every single tool mentally, physically, emotionally to do that, then you’ve got something special. There’s no doubt about it. That’s what I know Colts fans will be looking to see, just how good can Carson Wentz get? That’s really the intriguing question that everyone has and only time will tell.

 

  • On taking left tackle at pick No. 21: “As Colts fans look at it, I’ll ask the hypothetical question, one that I won’t personally answer because I have so much respect for these literal Hall of Fame players who haven’t gotten there yet. Colts fans, who is more valuable to the 2000s, when we had 115 wins with Peyton Manning, etc? Dwight Freeney or Tarik Glenn. That’s a great debate when you really sit down. You have to take the best player there. I’ve been a super strong proponent of that for a half a century. You take the best player there. That’s the reason why Reggie Wayne was on this football team because the board didn’t go our way. We were trying to get the corner from Wisconsin (Jamar Fletcher) and the board said Reggie Wayne. He was the next best player. History is kind to you when you follow that pattern of taking the next best player.”

 

  • On moving Quenton Nelson to left tackle: “I think it’s always in the cards if we wanted to do it. People may remember that we were playing the Broncos and they had a great penetrating defensive tackle and we had trouble blocking him. Jeff Saturday said, ‘I can block him.’ So we moved Jeff to guard and we won that game and Jeff dominated. He went back to center, of course, after that game. I think that the general feeling is if you can leave Quenton at guard, that would be the most ideal thing. But there’s no question that he can play left tackle in my mind and would play left tackle in my mind if it helps the franchise win more football games and be a better football team. That’s the way Frank Reich looks at it and the way Quenton looks at it, ‘I’ll do anything you need to help the team be better.’ He’s a selfless guy and that’s the reason he’s such a great leader, a great person and a great football player. Ideally, his power, his bend, his explosion inside, his ability to move people in a short space, is so, so rare. It’s probably only matched by John Hannah and Chris Hinton. He’s such a rare football player. I’ve talked to Jeff Saturday about it and our new offensive line coach Kevin Mawae and they’ve got different feelings about it. My gut feeling is that we’ll find a tackle and Quenton will stay put, but it’s really nice to know you have that option because there’s no doubt in my mind that he can play that position, unquestionably. But I think at guard he’s one of the top five offensive linemen in the history of the game. At the tackle, he would be great, but not quite to that level. At guard, it just fits his play so well.”

 

  • On if Irsay sweetened the deal to keep T.Y. Hilton in Indy: “I really didn’t. I just tried to facilitate the conversation between Chris (Ballard) and T.Y. and just try to put before them any possible options. I tried to emphasize and thankfully so did Reggie Wayne that it’s a special place here. He’s earned a special place in the hearts of Colts fans and it would be a shame to walk away from that even if the dollars didn’t exactly match up. Obviously, it’s professional football and the dollars have to make sense for the player in the end and that’s only fair. But I really didn’t. I was talking to Chris and he wanted me to contact T.Y., which I did and then I was talking to T.Y. and those two guys talked and I didn’t know what was going to happen, only happy to find out 10 minutes later that a deal got done. I think it’s a really good deal. The way Carson can push the ball downfield now, and really get it downfield, like Andrew (Luck) did or even more, he’s really a big, strong guy, he’s almost 6-6 and 250 pounds. He really has a strong arm and I think that benefits T.Y. It’s nice to have T.Y. here and his mentorship is really like part coach, part player. I think he’s got that knowledge about the game, so I think we are better with him. And I’m just happy for our fans, our organization and T.Y. and his family that it worked out because that is what we all really wanted to happen.”

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