Grading The Vontae Davis Trade (So Far)

[DS3]

How Would You Grade Vontae, And How He Has Done For Us This Year. I Know He Has Missed Alot Of Games, But From All The Games He Has Played In, And  Looking Back On The Trade, I Give Him A .....

B ) .Seems Fair. He Has Done Great In Action, But Missing Them Games Hurt

What Would You Grade Him ?

[PrincetonTiger]

A

[DS3]

A

Why An A ?

[PrincetonTiger]

A

Why An A ?

He has some great games

[Tark The Shark]

B. The injuries factor in. All of those missed games hurt the team.

 

If he had played every game I would have given it a A+

[House]

A

[DS3]

Yeah The Injury Was A Factor If Not I Would've Gave Him An A

[Gavin]

B-

 

He has been a mixed bag this year, some good coverage and then some bad, he is young so I think he gets alot better. Im still waiting for a pick or 2, Andre Johnson made him look bad at times, Im NOT saying there is any shame in that because Johnson is considered one of the best WR's in the league, Im just saying I expected more from Vontae in that game (yes I remember he got the wind knocked out of him)he had 9 tackles in that game but no deflections, I was expecting him to step up in that game

[DS3]

B-

 

He has been a mixed bag this year, some good coverage and then some bad, he is young so I think he gets alot better. Im still waiting for a pick or 2, Andre Johnson made him look bad at times, Im NOT saying there is any shame in that because Johnson is considered one of the best WR's in the league, Im just saying I expected more from Vontae in that game (yes I remember he got the wind knocked out of him)he had 9 tackles in that game but no deflections, I was expecting him to step up in that game

Yeah I Agree. I'm Waiting For That INT. But That Grade Is Fair 

[superrep1967]

How Would You Grade Vontae, And How He Has Done For Us This Year. I Know He Has Missed Alot Of Games, But From All The Games He Has Played In, And  Looking Back On The Trade, I Give Him A .....

B ) .Seems Fair. He Has Done Great In Action, But Missing Them Games Hurt

What Would You Grade Him ?

I wouldn't give him an A. Because he hasn't had any INT's yet. He needs to start creating some turnovers. So I'd give him a B -

[Coltswarriors]

So far a B.

When he's played, he's played very well. He just needs to stay healthy.

Can't wait for his first pick though!

[21isSuperman]

I think it's too early to tell.  Davis hasn't had a full season under our defensive system, he hasn't had Pagano there to coach him up, and he hasn't been very healthy this year.  When Pagano comes back and he is able to coach Davis with a full offseason in our system and Davis has a full season here, I think we can determine it.  It'll also be interesting to see what Miami does with the pick we gave them and how that turns out for them.

[Bleedin Blue]

Andre Johnson makes most corners look bad in this league. The man is a freak of nature (in a good way).

[Smonroe]

I would have voted but I had to go to the bathroom.

(Hard Knocks joke)

[Holden89]

I'll give him an A-

 

He's played very well in most of his games.  He is one of the better tacklers on our defense, and is the only corner who seems to know how to cover anyone.  Teams don't target him a lot when he's in man coverage unless it's a short route when he's playing off.  In which case he usually runs up and takes the legs out from under the guy. He's gotten beaten a few times, sure, but so has Champ Bailey.

[PrincetonTiger]

Andre Johnson makes most corners look bad in this league. The man is a freak of nature (in a good way).

Some of the catches he made last week were unbelievable

[Superman]

Are we grading the player, or the trade?

 

I love -- LOVE -- the trade. We had a glaring weakness, and Grigson went out and did something about it. He gave up a 2nd rounder (we keep the conditional 6th because Davis hasn't played enough games this season) for a young player with potential, who was under contract for two seasons. Davis could have absolutely bombed this year, and he still would have had another year to make up for it. And there's no doubt that he'll be as good as a 2nd round cornerback in the 2013 draft, so the price is reasonable. Making that even better is the fact that we're probably going to pick in the 20s in the draft. I give the trade itself an A-. 

 

As for the player, I give Davis a C+. When he's been on the field, the results have been mixed. Mostly positive, but he's had a couple of bad games, and some costly penalties. But I believe he can be a #1 corner, if he's healthy. And that's the major thing that holds this grade down, is that he hasn't been healthy. You could argue he's been hurt all year, having missed 6 games already. I don't fault him for that, but it's a part of the equation. If Pagano comes back and gets a full offseason under his belt, along with he and Grigson making some tweaks to our defensive front, I think it's going to pay off tremendously for our secondary. As of right now, the potential for Davis to be a lockdown corner is there, and if he can continue to acclimate himself, this grade will improve drastically.

[ConBro]

I'd rate him an A- simply because of the missed games. In the games he has played in, he has been very physical. I hope that he and Butler stick around for a while! Bob Lamey called them a pair similar to Jackson and Hayden... and we all remember what THOSE two did for this team!

[GoColts8818]

Think about this for a second.

 

If we don't make this trade Vaughn is our number one corner right now...

 

If that doesn't scare you into giving it an A think about this.  Butler would be the number two a guy who wasn't even on the roster till midway threw the season and we would be an injury away from Josh Gordy being a starter. 

 

Davis might not be a shut down corner but he has played well and made our team better.  I think that is worth a second round pick.  Frankly with the way the rules are now in the NFL stopping another team's passing game reflects more how your pass rush is playing than how the corners are playing.  So I don't judge Davis solely on that.  I have seen him be good at tackling and there have been games you don't hear his name called because he has his guy covered and teams move their WRs to get them off him which tells me he is doing his job.  The one thing I would like to see from him is a couple of turnovers.

 

This might not be the greatest trade in the history of the NFL but it looks to be a solid one with the way things have played out. We would be in deep deep trouble right now without him and the second round pick isn't going to turn out to be nearly as high of a pick that most thought it would be at the time. 

[Malakai432]

I think he's good with the somewhat limited action we've seen from him this year. Yeah he got burnt by Andrew and Calvin Johnson but so does everyone. I think he will get a lot better and he's made some very sweet tackles. I'll give the trade a B only because of injuries. I think he's better than any second rounder could be coming in and starting in a weak draft this upcoming year.

I'm sure he will improve and I definitely see a top 10-15 CB out of him in the future. He will improve and get better so will the entire defense. Boy this teams going to be scary in the future, definitely has the foundation of a championship caliber team slowly but surely in the making.

[Gavin]

I'd rate him an A- simply because of the missed games. In the games he has played in, he has been very physical. I hope that he and Butler stick around for a while! Bob Lamey called them a pair similar to Jackson and Hayden... and we all remember what THOSE two did for this team!

Not to sound all doom and gloom but Marlin Jackson had 4 pick in 4 years for us Hayden had  more (9 but 4 years) neither Corners would make a QB think twice about throwing to the man they were covering

[John Dee]

If one can come away with a starting CB for the nest few years then the trade was a success.    The NFL draft is a crap shoot and Indy picking where they will be (20+ on) in the second round getting a starting CB is very solid.

[Superman]

Not to sound all doom and gloom but Marlin Jackson had 4 pick in 4 years for us Hayden had  more (9 but 4 years) neither Corners would make a QB think twice about throwing to the man they were covering

 

We played zone almost exclusively. This comparison really isn't relevant. I don't think Lamey should have even made it.

[Gavin]

Think about this for a second.

 

If we don't make this trade Vaughn is our number one corner right now...

 

If that doesn't scare you into giving it an A think about this.  Butler would be the number two a guy who wasn't even on the roster till midway threw the season and we would be an injury away from Josh Gordy being a starter. 

 

Davis might not be a shut down corner but he has played well and made our team better.  I think that is worth a second round pick.  Frankly with the way the rules are now in the NFL stopping another team's passing game reflects more how your pass rush is playing than how the corners are playing.  So I don't judge Davis solely on that.  I have seen him be good at tackling and there have been games you don't hear his name called because he has his guy covered and teams move their WRs to get them off him which tells me he is doing his job.  The one thing I would like to see from him is a couple of turnovers.

 

This might not be the greatest trade in the history of the NFL but it looks to be a solid one with the way things have played out. We would be in deep deep trouble right now without him and the second round pick isn't going to turn out to be nearly as high of a pick that most thought it would be at the time. 

I agree that we would be in deep trouble but that is stating the obvious, I agree he has made our team a little better just because we actually have a Corner on the roster that a QB must respect now, I also agree a teams pass rush affects the Secondaries play to some extent, how much clearly varies play by play and team by team. For instance the Miami Dolphins (this year) have 39 sacks but 26th worst in the league in yards given up through the air. The Giants last year were tied for 3rd in the league in sacks(48) but 29th in passing yards allowed and I can give you a couple more from last year that exact same way, Vikings, Cowboys. There are different ways to help the Secondary out but the best way is to get a Corner or Safety that is good at what he does not put a couple pf Corners back there and hope your elite pass rushers can get to the QB because even when they do a high amount of times your still not accounting for all of those other passing attempts that they did not get there also take into consideration all of the ways a QB is protected now, if ya touch him in alot of cases even a tenth of a second after he releases the ball its a late hit or worse

[Shepman]

Well folks this is the NFL everyone gets burnt. Anyway I would say when he plays he is an A-. He does get out ran some trying to make plays. His open field tackling is top notch and he hits like a lb.

[BrentMc11]

I:  Incomplete.

Still worried about the number 2 draft pick for Vontae.  I see what Polian referred to as the great potential.....I see a young kid that has been injured and also inconsistent.  Lets see what he does the rest of the year, and next year will be the telling tale for me.        

[GoColts8818]

I agree that we would be in deep trouble but that is stating the obvious, I agree he has made our team a little better just because we actually have a Corner on the roster that a QB must respect now, I also agree a teams pass rush affects the Secondaries play to some extent, how much clearly varies play by play and team by team. For instance the Miami Dolphins (this year) have 39 sacks but 26th worst in the league in yards given up through the air. The Giants last year were tied for 3rd in the league in sacks(48) but 29th in passing yards allowed and I can give you a couple more from last year that exact same way, Vikings, Cowboys. There are different ways to help the Secondary out but the best way is to get a Corner or Safety that is good at what he does not put a couple pf Corners back there and hope your elite pass rushers can get to the QB because even when they do a high amount of times your still not accounting for all of those other passing attempts that they did not get there also take into consideration all of the ways a QB is protected now, if ya touch him in alot of cases even a tenth of a second after he releases the ball its a late hit or worse

I am not saying great pass rush = a shut down passing D.  Clearly there are ways to attack a pass rush with a quick passing game. I am saying it's very hard in today's NFL for a pass defense to stop a passing game without a pass rush.  Different thoughts.  The reason for that is because if you get no heat on a QB a QB can sit back there and wait for the pass defense to break down and then complete a pass and that's going to happen.  Most NFL experts agree a good corner can hold up in coverage for about three to five seconds and that's it.  If you have no pass rush like the Colts have had at points this season all the QB has to do is wait for the coverage to break down. 

[PrincetonTiger]

We played zone almost exclusively. This comparison really isn't relevant. I don't think Lamey should have even made it.

must of missed that

[The Fish]

I think it was a good trade.

A two might have been a little more than I'd have given, but as it stands he's a major part of any success the D might have.

[unitaswestand]

I would give him a B.  The Colts haven't had a great pass rush, which has a huge impact on how DBs look.  His run support is great.  I think he is being asked to cover too long.  I think next year he will be much better.  I think a solid trade.

[PrincetonTiger]

A great trade unless the player picked by the Dolphins becomes a HOFer

[John Dee]

I am not saying great pass rush = a shut down passing D.  Clearly there are ways to attack a pass rush with a quick passing game. I am saying it's very hard in today's NFL for a pass defense to stop a passing game without a pass rush.  Different thoughts.  The reason for that is because if you get no heat on a QB a QB can sit back there and wait for the pass defense to break down and then complete a pass and that's going to happen.  Most NFL experts agree a good corner can hold up in coverage for about three to five seconds and that's it.  If you have no pass rush like the Colts have had at points this season all the QB has to do is wait for the coverage to break down. 

 

Spot On....  

 

IMO CB play has actually been decent.     Indy needs a push up the middle (DT) and a better rush off the corner.

 

This D has been the reason Indy is in the position they are.    The D has played amazingly well.    \

 

Big Cap space and a smart GM should get this team really looking good next year.

 

OL, DT, DB.....       

[John Dee]

The odds are strongly in Indy's favor on that happening....

A great trade unless the player picked by the Dolphins becomes a HOFer

[PrincetonTiger]

The odds are strongly in Indy's favor on that happening....

agreed

[ConBro]

We played zone almost exclusively. This comparison really isn't relevant. I don't think Lamey should have even made it.

Yeah I mean he made the comparison as to how physical they play (Davis and Butler)-- I think his point was that we finaly have some physical corners again (yeah Justin Tryon-- I'm looking at you)

[PrincetonTiger]

Yeah I mean he made the comparison as to how physical they play (Davis and Butler)-- I think his point was that we finaly have some physical corners again (yeah Justin Tryon-- I'm looking at you)

Vaughan can be physical as well

[Warhorse]

Solid B. Happy the trade was made.

[betheafan41]

border line C+ /B-

he has been beat on a few plays, some plays he looks out of shape, and the injuries do not help the cause. yeah he made some good plays but def. was not worth a 2nd round pick. especially when guys like talib and assante samuel went awhole lot cheaper. i think we could have had him with a 3rd or 4th round pick mixed in with a 6th or 7th round pick.

but i am happy the colts did try to improve the secondary with this trade, that i give an A+ too.

[betheafan41]

Spot On....  

 

IMO CB play has actually been decent.     Indy needs a push up the middle (DT) and a better rush off the corner.

 

This D has been the reason Indy is in the position they are.    The D has played amazingly well.    \

 

Big Cap space and a smart GM should get this team really looking good next year.

 

OL, DT, DB.....       

cannot forget the OLB position either. Freeney may very well not be signed in the off season.

[throwing BBZ]

Excellent pickup. The injuries have nothing to do with his grade. This isn`t badminton.

I throw out his 1st game.

He has shown us plenty of skill at his position.

He is a solid B to B+ Player worth every bit of a later 2nd rd pick. Even an EARLY 2nd rd pick.

Wish we had 2 more of him for darn sure.