Colts select Joe Haeg, OL, North Dakota State

[Mr. Irrelevant]

Just now, LockeDown said:

It seems obvious that Philbin needs certain players for his scheme and that's what we are doing.  He is grabbing these tackles (a position we didn't think we needed) because they are all athletic, and talented...quick feet.  .  THey can play along the line while a true guard would be more one dimensional.  That's my guess anyway.

Good thinking there. We're not gonna miss Harrison, that is for sure. 

[MPStack]

Just now, LockeDown said:

It seems obvious that Philbin needs certain players for his scheme and that's what we are doing.  He is grabbing these tackles (a position we didn't think we needed) because they are all athletic, and talented...quick feet.  .  THey can play along the line while a true guard would be more one dimensional.  That's my guess anyway.

 

Absolutely! There are a lot of college OT`s that move to OG in the Pros and excel. It`s mostly schemed based I`m sure. Hopefully Clark and Haeg fit the bill.

[jbaron04]

21 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

Does this mean the Colts aren't all that confident in Good?

Could be depth or throw them all in a bag and see what happens 

[LockeDown]

1 minute ago, MPStack said:

Absolutely! There are a lot of college OT`s that move to OG in the Pros and excel. It`s mostly schemed based I`m sure. Hopefully Clark and Haeg fit the bill.

I read that a scout said Haeg had the feet of a dancer.   Makes me wonder if he is a LT backup.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

Apparently Haeg is very smart.  Sounds like Luck might have a buddy to play chess and other mind games with.

 

http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/04/20/joe-haeg-nfl-draft-carson-wentz-north-dakota-state

[Buddy Lee]

10 minutes ago, MPStack said:

I just think the Edge/OLB class was weak and Grigson went with the best value according to his board. Bottom line being too many holes to fill in one draft. Yes, the pass rush doesn`t sound encouraging for 2016. However, the Oline looks very encouraging. 

I believe Grigs as much as indicated his low regard for the pass rushers beyond those that went very early in one of his pre-draft pressers.

[SilentHill]

22 minutes ago, Maniq said:

So... how many O-linemen do we have?

Before or after we  cut Harrison?

[John Dee]

8 minutes ago, Maniq said:

I expect high-scoring games next season. On both sides of the ball.

That is exactly their plan..   next draft will be all D and a RB

[NorthernBlue]

Hopefully we do pick up a late pass rusher, like Ochi, just to give some hope to the group. But overall, I'm happy with this draft thus far.

 

The teams biggest weakness, might now have just become it's biggest strength. Depth and talent on so many positions. We got options. Clark at RT? Move Good inside? Thornton still has a shot. Reitz can play virtually anywhere. Luck will finally have time to throw in the pocket. 

 

This Pass rush class is pretty weak, so I don't mind Grigs not reaching for picks. We picked up a great athlete for the secondary, who if taught well and given time, can become a super productive player. Plus took a bit of a risk with Ridgeway, but considering the depth on the D line (even before Art Jones gets healthy), I think it's worth it.

 

Only pick I didn't like was the Morrison one, and that's cause I honestly never heard too much of him, so can't make an assumption yet.

 

I give this draft an A  so far

[weslo1812]

25 minutes ago, myic90 said:

He's projected to move inside to G.

 

On another note, i think this is probably the 1st true BPA selected this year.

How can you say that last line??? Have you seen the Colts board to know whether or not that's the case? 

[LockeDown]

2 minutes ago, John Dee said:

That is exactly their plan..   next draft will be all D and a RB

I agree.  Grigson said the pass rushers weren't particularly plentiful in this draft.  He used FA to get RBs this year thinking he'll draft a starter next year.

[Maniq]

Can't be an A when the pass rush has been left out. I mean the O-line is deep now, which is good, but we're allowing others to pass for a lot of yards on us.. Unless the D-line somehow turns brutal

[COLTS449]

It shows how great of GM Grigson is to come out of both the draft and free agency with NO EDGE rusher. I mean our pass rush was like SO good last year we didn't need to get anybody else. You know seeing how its 2010 and we have Robert Mathis and Trent Cole we're in great shape!!! Go get em boys!!!!

[myic90]

7 minutes ago, weslo1812 said:

How can you say that last line??? Have you seen the Colts board to know whether or not that's the case? 

 

Obviously not, i'm just speculating.

[LockeDown]

4 minutes ago, Maniq said:

Can't be an A when the pass rush has been left out. I mean the O-line is deep now, which is good, but we're allowing others to pass for a lot of yards on us.. Unless the D-line becomes brutal

 

If we had drafted all Defense, you couldn't give us an A because we didn't address the Oline.  

 

 But we did something very significant in my eyes.   Our 2nd round pick.  I read that he will/might be used to cover the Gronks and Jimmy Grahams in the league.  He has the size and more than enough speed to do that.  If he can be effective in that role at some point, that is something everybody has been trying to solve.  

[Buddy Lee]

Kevin Graf (T) and Mitchell Van Dyk (T) were signed as free agents 10 days ago. So these tackles are "stacked up at the runway waiting for takeoff"

[Hoosiernsavga]

Colts will be cutting a lot of OL from last year especially if Haeg makes the roster and I believe he will although he could possibly land on the PS. I love this draft we all knew the #1 priority was to protect Luck.

I believe we also have a future run stopper in Ridgeway who will be a great rotational player on the DL. 

Green is going to be interesting also  I love his versatility as a DB! 

Nothing wrong with this draft we played it safe for the most part IMO. 

[CR91]

could we really be seeing a line of AC Mewhort Kelly Clark Haeg at some point or was this strictly depth because I really don't see the upside of taking a third olineman. Im still holding out hope we get maggitt in the 7th

[weslo1812]

15 minutes ago, COLTS449 said:

It shows how great of GM Grigson is to come out of both the draft and free agency with NO EDGE rusher. I mean our pass rush was like SO good last year we didn't need to get anybody.

By our second pick most of the guys who were anything close to sure bets as pass rushers were gone. The pass rush class was not deep at all this year. And id venture to say that alot of the pass rushers who were taken in this draft could pan out to be nothing special. Grigson and company are sticking to thier board.

 

Instead though, we've strengthened the other huge weakness in our team that will protect the face of our franchise and our most valuable asset by far. I guess that doesn't count for anything....?

[Maniq]

16 minutes ago, LockeDown said:

 

If we had drafted all Defense, you couldn't give us an A because we didn't address the Oline.  

 

 But we did something very significant in my eyes.   Our 2nd round pick.  I read that he will/might be used to cover the Gronks and Jimmy Grahams in the league.  He has the size and more than enough speed to do that.  If he can be effective in that role at some point, that is something everybody has been trying to solve.  

It didn't necessary have to be either of the extremes. I never mentioned all in on D.

 

Yes, if he can, but he's raw and has only played two years D. It's a long shot.

 

I'm not saying this draft is bad. Not at all. But an A is a complete reach, since our (already lacking) pass rush has been left out.

[COLTS449]

Hopefully Clark moves to Guard. Comes in, balls out and is one of the top Guards in the NFL.

 

Castanzo-Mewhort-Kelly-Clark-Good. Then we have Haeg, Reitz, Thornton, and Holmes as the backups. Surely to God we'll have a top 10 offensive line this year.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

2 minutes ago, COLTS449 said:

It shows how great of GM Grigson is to come out of both the draft and free agency with NO EDGE rusher. I mean our pass rush was like SO good last year we didn't need to get anybody.

Our #1 priority this offseason was to protect Luck.

 

We, seemingly, have gotten the pieces to solve this problem. 

 

We had multiple holes, and serious lack of depth, along the OL.  It seems as though we have now fixed the holes AND improved depth.

 

Von Miller and Aldo Smith were the only 2 FAs who would be worth signing for our 'pass-rusher for the future', but no way would Denver part with Miller and Smith comes with some baggage.

 

No sense in overspending in FA when there really is no good long-term answer for a pass rusher there.  There are still some old guys who might be able to help for cheap (Jason Babin, Freeney), then there are a bunch of players who are no better than what we have on our current roster who are/were available.

 

After the first couple of stud pass rushers in this draft, there isn't really anyone that sticks out.  There are still a few players which may have developmental potential in round 7 (e.g., V. Ochi).

 

This team had some holes, and there is no way to make everything perfect in one offseason.  Grigs took care of priority 1 (or at least he has tried to), that is for sure.

[stitches]

50 minutes ago, CheezyColt said:

This is Grigson trolling. "You want offensive line? I'll give you offensive line!" 

 

In all seriousness, eventually we need SOMEONE to rush the passers, but I think this pick finishes the OLine, depth and all. We're going to have an awesome competition this year in training camp!

We should start complaining about lack of pass rush and hope he drafts 4 pass rushers next year.

[Mr. Irrelevant]

13 minutes ago, LockeDown said:

 

If we had drafted all Defense, you couldn't give us an A because we didn't address the Oline.  

 

 But we did something very significant in my eyes.   Our 2nd round pick.  I read that he will/might be used to cover the Gronks and Jimmy Grahams in the league.  He has the size and more than enough speed to do that.  If he can be effective in that role at some point, that is something everybody has been trying to solve.  

Exactly! This was my thought when I heard Pagano talk about him in the presser. Someone who could some day challenge the Gronks of this game. It is a big if, but if it works.... 

[MasterCrief]

I'm guessing the idea is to just have a huge training camp competition for the RG and RT spots. I could easily see anyone out of Reitz, Thornton, or Clark winning the RG spot, and the battle for starting RT between Good, Reitz, and Haeg will be good to watch, too. Tell all these guys that they've got to win the starting job, and let the cream rise to the top, I like it.

[Maniq]

1 minute ago, Mr Clueless said:

Exactly! This was my thought when I heard Pagano talk about him in the presser. Someone who could some day challenge the Gronks of this game. It is a big if, but if it works.... 

Very big if... All hypothetical.

 

But hey, if someone can turn him into a great pro, it's Pagano, so who knows.

[weslo1812]

10 minutes ago, ColtsFanMikeC said:

Our #1 priority this offseason was to protect Luck.

 

We, seemingly, have gotten the pieces to solve this problem. 

 

We had multiple holes, and serious lack of depth, along the OL.  It seems as though we have now fixed the holes AND improved depth.

 

Von Miller and Aldo Smith were the only 2 FAs who would be worth signing for our 'pass-rusher for the future', but no way would Denver part with Miller and Smith comes with some baggage.

 

No sense in overspending in FA when there really is no good long-term answer for a pass rusher there.  There are still some old guys who might be able to help for cheap (Jason Babin, Freeney), then there are a bunch of players who are no better than what we have on our current roster who are/were available.

 

After the first couple of stud pass rushers in this draft, there isn't really anyone that sticks out.  There are still a few players which may have developmental potential in round 7 (e.g., V. Ochi).

 

This team had some holes, and there is no way to make everything perfect in one offseason.  Grigs took care of priority 1 (or at least he has tried to), that is for sure.

Very well said!!! Aaaaaand now I believe we may have made our offensive line and defensive line the two strongest parts of our team with lots of depth. And that's where it all starts, if your not good at the line of scrimmage than the rest really doesn't matter. I think our offense was a good example of that last year. Had alot of talent at the skill positions that everyone likes. But our line stunk and as a result of that....we saw how bad our offense was.

[CheezyColt]

4 minutes ago, stitches said:

We should start complaining about lack of pass rush and hope he drafts 4 pass rushers next year.

 

Say we have 9 picks next year. 4 will be pass rush, 4 will be running backs, and the last will either be a small receiver or 7th Rd OT 

[CheezyColt]

9 minutes ago, stitches said:

 

Edited April 30, 2016 by CheezyColt
Double post

[CheezyColt]

29 minutes ago, COLTS449 said:

It shows how great of GM Grigson is to come out of both the draft and free agency with NO EDGE rusher. I mean our pass rush was like SO good last year we didn't need to get anybody else. You know seeing how its 2010 and we have Robert Mathis and Trent Cole we're in great shape!!! Go get em boys!!!!

 

Relax man. The tantrums aren't worth it. Start scouting next year's pass rushers and running backs. Look for some potential 7th or UDFAs that can help. I appreciate the passion but throwing these fits really makes getting through your posts tiring. I like your opinions on players, but r-e-l-a-x!  

[zo6scott]

As happy as Luck is about these steps, there's a certain running back who is equally happy about beefing up the OL.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

21 minutes ago, Maniq said:

Can't be an A when the pass rush has been left out. I mean the O-line is deep now, which is good, but we're allowing others to pass for a lot of yards on us.. Unless the D-line somehow turns brutal

 

6 minutes ago, Maniq said:

Yes, if he can, but he's raw and has only played two years D. It's a long shot.

 

I'm not saying this draft is bad. Not at all. But an A is a complete reach, since our (already lacking) pass rush has been left out.

 

You do realize that there were no sure-shot, very good bets to be elite pass rushers in the NFL in this draft, I hope?

 

Darron Lee is fast, but only had 7.5 sacks last year at OSU (arguably the most talented team in the country) -- sorry, those numbers don't stack up to suggest he is an elite pass rusher.

 

Leonard Floyd lacks strength, and even though he is highly-touted as a pass rusher, he had 4.5 sacks last year and never more than 6.5 sacks (those are not elite pass rushing numbers to me).

 

Sua Cravens had a whopping 5.5 sacks last year.

 

Miles Jack, aside from major injury concern, had a grand total of 1 sack during his whole college career.

 

Honestly, Ochi might have the most potential as a pass rusher in this draft and there is a good shot he will be available for us in the 7th.

 

[IinD]

Not sure why anyone would be annoyed at these oline picks.

 

We tried to put below average patchwork lines out there the last few years and it's absolutely failed. 

 

We now have young big talent to battle it out. I also don't get why some think there's no way some of these rooks don't start. It isn't like they have Orlando Pace and Joe Thomas type guys in front of them.

 

They've got a longtime nfl vet like Philbin who will have several months to work with them and our new strength and conditioning guy is supposedly one of the best in the biz.

 

I don't buyt the whole 'these guys can't help us in 2016'....of course they can if you have the right coaches and programs in place.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

26 minutes ago, weslo1812 said:

Very well said!!! Aaaaaand now I believe we may have made our offensive line and defensive line the two strongest parts of our team with lots of depth. And that's where it all starts, if your not good at the line of scrimmage than the rest really doesn't matter. I think our offense was a good example of that last year. Had alot of talent at the skill positions that everyone likes. But our line stunk and as a result of that....we saw how bad our offense was.

 

Thank you, and 'YES!' to your post.

 

From day 1, when Grigs and Pags took over they preached 'to win in this league you have to run the ball and stop the run.'  To date, our biggest consistent weakness has been the OL under their tenure -- we now have a new OL coach and we seem to finally have addressed the OL!  Arguably our second biggest consistent weakness during this tenure has been the DL -- and with Art Jones coming back (and hopefully a healthy Anderson), with the addition of Hassan Ridgeway, we might finally have a very good DL. 

 

Perhaps we will finally be able to do the things that were set out with the initial goals.

[IinD]

6 minutes ago, ColtsFanMikeC said:

 

Thank you, and 'YES!' to your post.

 

From day 1, when Grigs and Pags took over they preached 'to win in this league you have to run the ball and stop the run.'  To date, our biggest consistent weakness has been the OL under their tenure -- we now have a new OL coach and we seem to finally have addressed the OL!  Arguably our second biggest consistent weakness during this tenure has been the DL -- and with Art Jones coming back (and hopefully a healthy Anderson), with the addition of Hassan Ridgeway, we might finally have a very good DL. 

 

Perhaps we will finally be able to do the things that were set out with the initial goals.

I also feel people are underestimating the new strength and conditioning coach we got from Mia. We've been a consistently injured team yearly and he gets high praise, even winning awards at his position from the league.

 

We drafted a bunch of big guys who will now be working out with one of the best in the league

[IAColtsFan]

13 minutes ago, IinD said:

I also feel people are underestimating the new strength and conditioning coach we got from Mia. We've been a consistently injured team yearly and he gets high praise, even winning awards at his position from the league.

 

We drafted a bunch of big guys who will now be working out with one of the best in the league

 

And I think people are underestimating a new defensive coordinator.  One that won't have such a vanilla defense and will apply blitz packages more often.

[DarkHorse]

2 hours ago, 21isSuperman said:

So what do we project for our starting OL next year?  Castonzo, Mewhort, Kelly, Clark, Reitz/Good?

 I believe Clark might be the right tackle and  good the Right Guard

[B~Town]

2 hours ago, SP_21 said:

We suddenly have a surplus of lineman. Do we have a roster spot for all these guys?

Can always make room for better players

[B~Town]

1 hour ago, COLTS449 said:

It shows how great of GM Grigson is to come out of both the draft and free agency with NO EDGE rusher. I mean our pass rush was like SO good last year we didn't need to get anybody else. You know seeing how its 2010 and we have Robert Mathis and Trent Cole we're in great shape!!! Go get em boys!!!!

This from the guy whos fix would have been a guy who will rag dolled by NFL lineman

[DougDew]

I think Clark and Haeg were drafted for the ZBS.  There is a chance they beat out Good and Thornton, who were drafted under the old power scheme.  I wouldn't be surprised if we sign other ZBS OLs and Thornton and Good don't make the roster.