Colts select Antonio Morrison, LB, Florida

[Bleedin Blue]

Just now, Superman said:

 

They jumped off the screen because they were quick, fast, explosive... Morrison is none of those things.

 

I would wait to see him play in a Colts uniform before I render judgement.  If you're evaluating off this last year you may also need to consider he's coming off a significant knee injury from 2014.  You're also wrong on the first point.  He is quick.  Specifically described as "laterally quick".  He's also got great work ethic and intensity.  With some good coaching, I think he could be a good situational pass rusher. 

[twfish]

Hey I want the ilb that's crazy enough to bark at a dog

[CR91]

Judon in the 5th and maggitt in the 7th. Pass rush taken care of

[Superman]

Just now, Bleedin Blue said:

 

I would wait to see him play in a Colts uniform before I render judgement.  If you're evaluating off this last year you may also need to consider he's coming off a significant knee injury from 2014.  You're also wrong on the first point.  He is quick.  Specifically described as "laterally quick".  He's also got great work ethic and intensity.  With some good coaching, I think he could be a good situational pass rusher. 

 

I don't think there's anything quick about him. I do want to his 2014 stuff, though.

[Tom Moroney]

1 minute ago, esmort said:

 

Terrible Logic

If you say so

[oldunclemark]

Just now, twfish said:

Hey I want the ilb that's crazy enough to bark at a dog

Dog started to trash talk him so he had to speak to him in his own language!

 

Just cause a dog's got a badge doesn't mean he can disrespect you

[SDakColts]

IMO this is a Coach Monachino pick. With his previous LB successes in Baltimore I will reserve judgement till a further time. It may not be a flashy pick, but I believe this is a solid pick.

[Mr. Irrelevant]

9 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

Read up on this guy. Mr. Clue....

Comments like: ..'Leader'    'good motor'   'warrior'  'plays through the whistle'

'arrested for barking at a police dog'

 

I'd at least try him out....sounds a little like Gary Brackett

Well, with our new DC, who might be a LB coach guru, I will reserve judgment. I do like the part about barking at the police dog though, it is never bad to have a crazy sense of humor IMO. 

[Slick12]

I would think that Monachino was in on this pick. 

[twfish]

3 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

Dog started to trash talk him so he had to speak to him in his own language!

 

Just cause a dog's got a badge doesn't mean he can disrespect you

Thank you for this hahahaha

[Slick12]

1 minute ago, SDakColts said:

IMO this is a Coach Monachino pick. With his previous LB successes in Baltimore I will reserve judgement till a further time. It may not be a flashy pick, but I believe this is a solid pick.

Beat me to it. spot on

[SDakColts]

 

[Bleedin Blue]

Some good flashes here:  1:26m and 2:10.  I'm not saying he's amazing, but he could be good.  This is also against good competition (Ole Miss #3)

 

 

[Manning1887]

What a HORRENDOUS pick! They follow up a great pick in Ridgeway by throwing away a 4th round pick on a LB who is 6' 230 lbs and runs a 5.10 forty??????????????

 

Kenneth Dixon would have been an OUTSTANDING pick!!!! 

[oldunclemark]

1 minute ago, Mr Clueless said:

Well, with our new DC, who might be a LB coach guru, I will reserve judgment. I do like the part about barking at the police dog though, it is never bad to have a crazy sense of humor IMO. 

Yeah...I dont know what he can do

He might be the guy who jumps in the fountain at 2 a.m.

But I cant wait to hear his explaination of how the canine police 'dogged' him

[esmort]

6 minutes ago, Tom Moroney said:

If you say so

 

So anytime we get trade picks or comp picks it's ok to waste those since we didn't have those picks to begin with .... that's ridiculous ... I think most everyone would say so (not just me).

[SDakColts]

 

[LockeDown]

cbs sports

 

IN OUR VIEW: Morrison isn't an elite size/speed specimen, but shows terrific play speed and physicality, doing whatever possible to get his man on the ground. Based on talent, Morrison is a NFL starter and top-60 draft pick, but his pro evaluation relies heavily on the medical reports.

 

Also said " Arguably the most intense player at the college level, "

[oldunclemark]

6 minutes ago, Bleedin Blue said:

Some good flashes here:  1:26m and 2:10.  I'm not saying he's amazing, but he could be good.

 

 

Good tape here

Shows his strengths and flaws.

He isn't that big or fast...But he plays hard and he plays beyond the whistle sometimes...

 

Looks a little hobbled in this game..but he's around the ball

Got to get him  healthy and see....He's clearly spirited and a leader on the field

[Indyfan4life]

8 minutes ago, Manning1887 said:

What a HORRENDOUS pick! They follow up a great pick in Ridgeway by throwing away a 4th round pick on a LB who is 6' 230 lbs and runs a 5.10 forty??????????????

 

Kenneth Dixon would have been an OUTSTANDING pick!!!! 

Why don't you wait to see what he can do before your not so great knowledge of players is the end all be all decision for his career. 

[jameszeigler834]

17 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I don't think there's anything quick about him. I do want to his 2014 stuff, though.

Some of you are basically calling this guy a wasted pick before you even see him play I would have taken someone else too but that's just me I will wait until I see him play.

[Lawrence Owen]

Ok did some digging...i feel MUCH better about this pick now.:

 

NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport reports that Florida LB Antonio Morrison was medically cleared of his infection upon recheck.

Per Rapoport, Morrison took antibiotics for six weeks in order to kill the infection. It was a noticeable hindrance during process testing, as he was unable to participate at the NFL Scouting Combine and was severely limited on his Pro Day. CBS Sports' Pete Prisco likes the 6-foot-1, 232-pounder as a potential third-round sleeper who could carve out a starting role over time.

 

 

To me, this could mean his speed and drill #'s are flawed due to the infections he had in his knee's.

 

[jbaron04]

Don't like the pick he is small and to compensate for that he is super slow 5.1 40 Yard dash this to me was not a good pick 

[LockeDown]

I would be shocked if thats his fastest 40.  SEC is loaded with speed.  He. Couldn't have survived unless there is something special.

[tvturner]

Peyton Manning ran a faster 40 than him lol

[oldunclemark]

2 minutes ago, LockeDown said:

I would be shocked if thats his fastest 40.  SEC is loaded with speed.  He. Couldn't have survived unless there is something h inv special.

That's a very good point...There's no way he;s playing 2 years (with 100 tackles each year ) in the SEC running a 5.1  '40'

[SteelCityColt]

Initial reaction is I'm not a big fan but as with every pick let's judge them on the field not on the draft board.

 

Good aggression, good instincts, undersized and concerns about speed. Nor sure we needed another 2 down thumper either. The upside is that people in the know seem to think highly of him if his knees have cleared up. 

[Surge89]

Sort of a meh pick.

 

If and that's the big one IF he heals completely I think he can contribute.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

29 minutes ago, dw49 said:

 

Funny you should say that as I don't like it either. I think this was a "need pick." Just before it came in I said to myself "this has to be a LB."  If he totally recovers from the knee injury  I think at best we have a "plug in" 2 down ILB. That would be an OK result from a near the bottom of the 4th draft pick.

 

IMO, OLB was/is a higher priority than ILB going into this coming season. 

 

22 minutes ago, Bleedin Blue said:

Freeney and Mathis were both undersized.  I don't really care about that particular assessment.  Does he produce, can he stay healthy?  That is what I care about.  He seems to be "ok" in the first department. 

 

Also, those incidents off the field were 3 years ago.  Maybe the kid has matured since then. We'll see...

 

 I agree with you.  It is amazing that he even played at all last year, and it was obvious he was not at full strength/speed.  His 40 time is underwhelming, but who knows if he ran that at full strength.  I also agree with you, that his off-field incidents happened 3 years ago -- he didn't really do anything that bad -- he punched a bouncer in a club (a lot of college students have punched bouncers or other people in bars -- not that it is right, but it isn't like he shot someone or was arrested for carrying an illegal weapon) and he barked at a dog at 3 AM (probably not totally appropriate, but I can easily see why a college student would think it is funny to bark at a police dog at 3 AM, and again it isn't like he was caught doing drugs, selling drugs, gang-banging, etc..). 

 

When we signed Irving and Sio Moore last year, I think I remember Pagano/Grigs saying something about them coming back from knee injury and needing last year to kind of get back into shape, with hopes that this coming season they will be fully healthy again.  I could see this with Morrison -- he is certainly a play maker (even when he's not healthy).

 

I wonder if Grigs is the AFC GM with the quote below????  Below that there is a link to a highlight video -- I like what I see there.

 

 

Sources Tell Us

"Write him up however you want, but he's a two-down MIKE linebacker who is tough as hell and a good football player. I worry much less about his 'negatives' than I do with what he can do." -- AFC general manager

NFL Comparison

Denzel Perryman

Bottom Line

Glass eater who will be the first in line to battle. Morrison's leadership, toughness and aggressiveness will be exactly what NFL teams want, but his lack of instincts and size are barriers that may always hinder his pro potential. After his knee injury, Morrison's athleticism wasn't quite where it was in 2014 so he might be at full strength by 2016. Morrison may be too tight to play outside linebacker in a 4-­3 and lacking the instincts to play in the middle. His best fit could be as the WILB in a 3­-4 where he figures to be an eventual starter.

 

 

[Swaggy G]

35 minutes ago, dw49 said:

 

 

The kid barked back at a police dog and some cop couldn't take a joke. 

Don't try and defend the guy like he is a model citizen. He was arrested for punching a bouncer in the face for charging him a cover fee at a bar. Definitely concerned about his coverage skills but he does play violently. 

 

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1675475-florida-football-antonio-morrison-arrested-for-allegedly-punching-bouncer#

[Saturday Luck]

The Morrison pick is getting meh grades so far.

[Bluefire4]

44 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

They jumped off the screen because they were quick, fast, explosive... Morrison is none of those things.

He plays faster than he ran. He was dealing with some stuff.

[Samu-Rye]

i cannot say yet,whether this is a good or bad pick. But i'm leary of the fact that we passed on Reed,Martin,Cravens,Alexander and Whitehair to get him.

[jvan1973]

Just now, Samu-Rye said:

i cannot say yet,whether this is a good or bad pick. But i'm leary of the fact that we passed on Reed,Martin,Cravens,Alexander and Whitehair to get him.

Whitehair has been gone for quite sometime now

[Samu-Rye]

By trading down

 

[LockeDown]

8 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

 

 

 

[jvan1973]

2 minutes ago, Samu-Rye said:

By trading down

 

Trading down had nothing to do with the harrison pick,   they were going wIth green even if they didn't trade back

[ColtsFanMikeC]

5 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

That's a very good point...There's no way he;s playing 2 years (with 100 tackles each year ) in the SEC running a 5.1  '40'

 

9 minutes ago, LockeDown said:

I would be shocked if thats his fastest 40.  SEC is loaded with speed.  He. Couldn't have survived unless there is something special.

 

12 minutes ago, jbaron04 said:

Don't like the pick he is small and to compensate for that he is super slow 5.1 40 Yard dash this to me was not a good pick 

 

20 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

Ok did some digging...i feel MUCH better about this pick now.:

 

NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport reports that Florida LB Antonio Morrison was medically cleared of his infection upon recheck.

Per Rapoport, Morrison took antibiotics for six weeks in order to kill the infection. It was a noticeable hindrance during process testing, as he was unable to participate at the NFL Scouting Combine and was severely limited on his Pro Day. CBS Sports' Pete Prisco likes the 6-foot-1, 232-pounder as a potential third-round sleeper who could carve out a starting role over time.

 

 

To me, this could mean his speed and drill #'s are flawed due to the infections he had in his knee's.

 

 

He certainly seems to play fast.  And coming off the knee injury plus his infections (which caused him to miss the combine) could have severely altered his drills.

 

Many college players train for months just for combine specific drills, and it sounds as though Morrison didn't have that as an option due to having an infection.  The 40 can be a good metric, but I don't know for sure that it is the best metric to measure someone who hasn't had time to train specifically for it (just a poor start can take tenths of seconds off your time).

[Samu-Rye]

I have trouble believing that

[jvan1973]

Just now, Samu-Rye said:

I have trouble believing that

I didn't realize you were in the war room.     My apologies