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Could the colts have a top 10 defense this season?


RockThatBlue

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Here are my projected top 10 defensive rankings:

 

1. Seattle

2. Arizona

3. St. Louis

4. Buffalo

5. Detroit

6. Kansas City

7. Houston

8. New Jersey

9. Miami

10. Carolina

 

Last year the Colts defense was ranked #11 statistically. They were much improved and deserved to move up the rankings, however, they also got to play two of the worst offenses in football, the Jaguars and the Titans 2 times each. The Texans weren't great offensively either. Further, the Colts had a great offense, which for the most part allowed the defense to rest. For that reason, although the Colts may finish statistically in the top 10, a team like Houston would do so much better if their offense sustained longer drives, or the Jets if they played against the likes of the Jaguars and Titans.

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Yes its still early we don't know the final 53 and so on but even so I think we can all agree this will be the most talented defense that Pagano and Manusky have had to work with. I see no reason why we can't be a top ten defense. Am I right or wrong?

 

I guess it depends on the metric?

 

-- Yards per game?

 

-- Points per game?

 

What's the standard?

 

But the answer is.......    Yes,  we could.   

 

I'm just not ready to say yes,  we will.

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Here are my projected top 10 defensive rankings:

 

1. Seattle

2. Arizona

3. St. Louis

4. Buffalo

5. Detroit

6. Kansas City

7. Houston

8. New Jersey

9. Miami

10. Carolina

 

Last year the Colts defense was ranked #11 statistically. They were much improved and deserved to move up the rankings, however, they also got to play two of the worst offenses in football, the Jaguars and the Titans 2 times each. The Texans weren't great offensively either. Further, the Colts had a great offense, which for the most part allowed the defense to rest. For that reason, although the Colts may finish statistically in the top 10, a team like Houston would do so much better if their offense sustained longer drives, or the Jets if they played against the likes of the Jaguars and Titans.

I'm assuming you mean the Jets? I'd rank them a bit higher personally. Ahead of Houston anyways.

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not unless some monsters suddenly appear on the front seven

 

A healthy, slimmed-down Art Jones is going to be huge for the DL.  Kendall Langford, IMO, will be a big upgrade over RJF/Redding on the line.  Anderson seems promising and I expect to see Chapman and Hughes continue to improve.  Additionally, I expect Newsome to make a big leap at OLB and if Mathis returns to health, this will be (IMO) hands-down the best group of LBs and DL that Pagano/Manusky have seen.

 

Absolutely not. 

 

Our defensive line and middle linebacker situation worries me.

 

I think having a fully healthy Art Jones (plus other additions and player development, mentioned above) will mean a world of difference to our DL.

 

The idea of Geathers playing as an ILB on passing downs excites me.  If that works out, it should allow DQ to be a tackling machine like he was last year, while masking his struggles in pass-coverage. 

 

On top of all that, which may be the biggest thing for our D, is we might actually have a running attack on offense this year.  Luck definitely has more weapons than he has ever had on the offensive side.  If we can keep other offenses off the field, it will mean a world of difference to our D as a whole.

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I think we definitely can. I'm thinking/hoping we have a breakout player or 2 this year. Plus we'll have guys like Jones and Free healthy. I look for Art Jones to be a monster this season honestly. We'll have a better pass rush too. All's I'm really worried about is Safety. I'm worried if Adams will repeat last seasons success. And how Lowery will look. I also worry about how we'll do against the run but I think our run D should be improved somewhat. Kerr should be a better player this year. Hopefully Chapman is solid all year in the middle. I'm hoping one of Kerr or Hughes really breaks out and turns into a run stuffing beast.

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Art and the New guys, rookies and FA's both, are key to that.  If Art stays healthy, he will be good, if not great.

 

But we need the new guys to pick up the scheme fast.  Langford, Cole, Anderson, Irving, even Geathers in Dime packages apparently, need to be able to know their assignments and execute without thinking for this Defense to be top 10.

 

The weak spot is NT.  I like Kerr over Chapman.  If only he was more consistent. There were times last year he looked dominate, Yet other times looked like he was taking plays off.  Could have been winded, Which the weight he lost should help with that.

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On top of all that, which may be the biggest thing for our D, is we might actually have a running attack on offense this year.  Luck definitely has more weapons than he has ever had on the offensive side.  If we can keep other offenses off the field, it will mean a world of difference to our D as a whole.

 

Great point.....  Many people forget how much a solid running attack actually helps the defense .......

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Art and the New guys, rookies and FA's both, are key to that.  If Art stays healthy, he will be good, if not great.

 

But we need the new guys to pick up the scheme fast.  Langford, Cole, Anderson, Irving, even Geathers in Dime packages apparently, need to be able to know their assignments and execute without thinking for this Defense to be top 10.

 

The weak spot is NT.  I like Kerr over Chapman.  If only he was more consistent. There were times last year he looked dominate, Yet other times looked like he was taking plays off.  Could have been winded, Which the weight he lost should help with that.

 

Kerr is not an NT.

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Our defense was overrated last year in terms of yards etc because we played a lot of teams with bad quarterbacks.

 

No way are they anything close to top 10.

This isnt a fair reflection at all:

 

Through week 5 of last season our D was a top 5 ranked unit. Through those first 5 weeks we played, Manning, Foles, Bortles, Fitz and Flacco.

 

2 elites (like him or hate him Flacco is good)

1 average, Foles

2 not so greats....

After week 5 we started to get the injury bug big time on D. We fell off the map.

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Anyone else notice David Parry was drafted as a NT...but now he is listed as:

 

54 Parry, David DT 6-2 310 23 R

Stanford

 

I think that probably was a good position move considering his size compared to NFL standards for a 3-4 defense.

 

Should not be a tough move, being that he and Anderson played every spot on the d-line of a 3-4 in Stanford, switching in and out to find favorable match-ups.

 

Also, it is GREAT news that Mathis was cleared by doctors and is now active.  The coaches taking their time reintroducing him back into the folds of full contact is great, but that he is already cleared gives high hopes he'll b ready for the season opener.  He'll be a MAJOR factor in how good this defense is next year if he does come back 100%.  Even if he is not the same guy, a step slower, his presence cannot be underestimated.

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Oh okay, I will just ignore the fact that he played 18 snaps at NT last year, and 271 at DE.

 

Zach Kerr is a DE.

With Langford and Anderson @ DE, I think Him being a NT is a better spot,  Besides,He has always been listed as a NT.  He played DE because of lack  of quality depth there last year.

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With Langford and Anderson @ DE, I think Him being a NT is a better spot,  Besides,He has always been listed as a NT.  He played DE because of lack  of quality depth there last year.

 

... And we lost Redding and RJF.

 

He will see snaps at NT, but they will be very limited. In many games, we don't have an NT on the field for 50% of the snaps. Plus, you already have Chapman and Hughes in the rotation.

 

I would be shocked it he was not first and foremost and DE again this year. He impressed last year in that role.

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I would be happy to see us in the top 12 against the run, THAT would be a difference maker 

 

We gave up an average of 4.3 ypc and that is a good reason why we suffered at times last year

 

If we could get that down 3.8 it would mean a great deal.  1/2 of a year reduction on every carry would put us in the top 10 so if we are more stout along the line and dont get pushed around that is very possible with the front 7 we have 

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With Langford and Anderson @ DE, I think Him being a NT is a better spot,  Besides,He has always been listed as a NT.  He played DE because of lack  of quality depth there last year.

 

Oh, and teams have to list official depth charts and rosters... they are rarely accurate.

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I guess it depends on the metric?

 

-- Yards per game?

 

-- Points per game?

 

What's the standard?

 

But the answer is.......    Yes,  we could.   

 

I'm just not ready to say yes,  we will.

I agree.  I do think they could be a top 10 scoring defense, even a top 10 fantasy defense, but yards?  Doubt it.

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Art and the New guys, rookies and FA's both, are key to that.  If Art stays healthy, he will be good, if not great.

 

But we need the new guys to pick up the scheme fast.  Langford, Cole, Anderson, Irving, even Geathers in Dime packages apparently, need to be able to know their assignments and execute without thinking for this Defense to be top 10.

 

The weak spot is NT.  I like Kerr over Chapman.  If only he was more consistent. There were times last year he looked dominate, Yet other times looked like he was taking plays off.  Could have been winded, Which the weight he lost should help with that.

 

As an UDFA from an FCS school, Kerr did very well last year.  You may well be correct that he was winded as the season went on, and his off-season conditioning should help.

 

That said, I think Kerr has a pretty limited window for growth as a player -- I hope I'm wrong, but I don't expect to see him improve a whole lot from what the best of we saw last year (which, was pretty good).  Chapman is bigger, I think has more upside, and I think usually a better player against the run. 

 

Hughes, when he was drafted, was drafted based on potential.  He has the size and athleticism, and I think he should have the improved strength and football knowledge going into his 3rd year to make a big leap.  While Chapman is going into his 4th year, I really think he still has room for improvement -- mainly because he was IR'ed his first year, and for a guy his size a knee injury like that may take quite some time to fully recover from -- his second year he played sparingly and last year he showed he can stand up to a full season.

 

Last year we had 6 DL on our final roster --- If I had to predict our DL for the final 53 right now it would be:

 

Locks:  Art Jones, Kendall Langford, Henry Anderson, Josh Chapman, Montori Hughes

 

On the Bubble: Zach Kerr, David Parry, Jeris Pendleton, Kelcy Quarles

 

Very unlikely: Earl Okine

 

I think there is a good chance we start the season with 7 DL instead of 6 -- in which case I think we'd see 2 of the players I listed make the team (my guess would be Kerr and Parry, though I was very impressed with Pendleton the little I saw of him before he got injured and I have a feeling the coaches like Quarles more than I do).

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Here are my projected top 10 defensive rankings:

 

1. Seattle

2. Arizona

3. St. Louis

4. Buffalo

5. Detroit

6. Kansas City

7. Houston

8. New Jersey

9. Miami

10. Carolina

 

Last year the Colts defense was ranked #11 statistically. They were much improved and deserved to move up the rankings, however, they also got to play two of the worst offenses in football, the Jaguars and the Titans 2 times each. The Texans weren't great offensively either. Further, the Colts had a great offense, which for the most part allowed the defense to rest. For that reason, although the Colts may finish statistically in the top 10, a team like Houston would do so much better if their offense sustained longer drives, or the Jets if they played against the likes of the Jaguars and Titans.

 

 Thanks for the REALITY check.

 Pretty sure we ended up negative in ball control last season.

 Not likely to be so this season and that is Good for the D.

 Top 10?? Some young D-Lineman will have to make a big jump for us. And i like our guys.

 Will we really have one of the top ten D`s come playoff time? We should be close.

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This defense is still going to be considered 'soft'. I consider Mathis a tough guy. I think Geathers might be a tough guy. Davis is an elite CB. Jones(mostly injured last season), Langford, and Anderson might provide some toughness that was lacking last year. So there is some potential there for us to improve over last year.

I suspect that our offense is going to be so 'lights out' that our defense isn't going to be exposed as much. I think we're going to see alot of Mathis, Cole, and Newsome getting after opposing QBS due to our having a large lead.

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This isnt a fair reflection at all:

Through week 5 of last season our D was a top 5 ranked unit. Through those first 5 weeks we played, Manning, Foles, Bortles, Fitz and Flacco.

2 elites (like him or hate him Flacco is good)

1 average, Foles

2 not so greats....

After week 5 we started to get the injury bug big time on D. We fell off the map.

Flaco is not elite. He's good, but him laying an egg isn't unusual.
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