Luck and Anderson Colts Two Best Players Arguably? Agree or Disagree?

[BullsColtsFan1]

According to Mr. Irsay

 

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2016/5/4/11593118/jim-irsay-andrew-luck-and-henry-anderson-are-arguably-colts-two-best-players

[CR91]

He was a beast in those 10 games

[NewEra]

Agreed

[BlueShoe]

I agreed with Irsay when he said it. I would put Vontae up there too though.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

1 hour ago, BullsColtsFan1 said:

According to Mr. Irsay

 

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2016/5/4/11593118/jim-irsay-andrew-luck-and-henry-anderson-are-arguably-colts-two-best-players

 

When healthy, Luck is probably the best young QB in the league.  Luck has won games for us by putting us on his back many times.  I don't think it is a question that he is our best player and that he is our franchise player.

 

Anderson played very well as a rookie, but only was healthy for 8+ games.  I think he was one of our best players last year, for sure.  But, coming off a major knee injury, I'm a little hesitant to agree he is our 2nd best player.

 

I would rank Vontae ahead of him, for sure.  I would say TY has done more in his 4 years here to deserve that accolade than HA did in 8 + weeks.  D'Qwell has lead the AFC in tackles (combined) the past 2 years, Mike Adams has been a pro-bowler the past 2 years.  Vinatieri and McAfee are arguably the best at their position in the entire league. Costanzo has been very solid for multiple years now..... there are a lot of guys on this roster that you could argue have given more to the team than HA.

 

So, I would disagree with Irsay at this point.  Anderson had a very good rookie year going for him until his injury.  I want to see how he recovers from injury and how he pans out over the long term before I'm comfortable labeling him as our #2 best player.  It is my (quite unpopular) opinion, that Art Jones, if healthy can be just as good or better than HA on the d-line.  I am rooting for HA, and I hope he and Art come back healthy because if they can stay healthy along with the rest of our DL, I think that could become the strongest unit on this team.... but, as of this exact point in time, I would not say HA is our 2nd best player.  He does have the fact he is young going for him, and I hope he continues to grow and improve from his rookie year -- if he does that, I won't be shocked if in 2-3 years we're all agreeing he is a top 2 player on our team.

[IinD]

Based on early results you can clearly see Anderson was going to become a player until he got hurt. Now that becomes questionable if he doesn't return as the player he was. Not everyone comes back from knee injuries regardless of age.

 

Luck, don't even need to mention him.

 

 

[Defjamz26]

Wow Hilton gets no love anywhere lol. Not even from the owner. If you wanna go based on consistency, Hilton and McaFee are the best players. Hilton has never had a bad year.

[Colts_Fan12]

Umm no easily it's Luck and Vontae 

[NorthernBlue]

I'm hesitant to put Anderson up there. He's only played 10 games. Granted he was a beast those ten games, but Vontae has been great for a few years now. I think Vontae's 2014 season was one of the best seasons by a CB ever.

 

Now that doesn't mean Henry CAN'T be better. He might. But not yet

[throwing BBZ]

This is the guy who has been mentoring our GM & HC to our current questionable status.
 

 This is a huge insult to a couple of Irsay`s players.
 Henry played well for a Rookie in his first 5 games.
 And then teams get some tape on you and adjust.
  3 of the last 4 teams he played against were Good Teams and he was no more than ok.
  

[Smonroe]

1 minute ago, throwing BBZ said:

This is the guy who has been mentoring our GM & HC to our current questionable status.
 

 This is a huge insult to a couple of Irsay`s players.
 Henry played well for a Rookie in his first 5 games.
 And then teams get some tape on you and adjust.
  3 of the last 4 teams he played against were Good Teams and he was no more than ok.
  

 

Oh come on now.  He was just hemmin and hawin through an interview and wanted to point out how injuries to important players can affect the team.  One injury on offense, one injury on defense.

 

I sincerely doubt he was ranking or insulting anyone.

Relax.

[NorthernBlue]

So that means this team lost it's best Offensive and defensive players (according to Irsay) and still finished 8-8

 

 

Don't get me wrong, last season sucked, but we should at least be impressed the team didn't implode the way the Cowboys did

[Smonroe]

2 minutes ago, NorthernBlue said:

So that means this team lost it's best Offensive and defensive players (according to Irsay) and still finished 8-8

 

 

Don't get me wrong, last season sucked, but we should at least be impressed the team didn't implode the way the Cowboys did

 

Shows how valuable a decent backup QB is.  I think everyone would say the Cowboys had a better roster than the Colts, especially the O line. 

 

The downside is they were rewarded for their incompetence with the #4 pick in the draft.

[UKColt13]

Not sure Anderosn leap frogs Vontae and TY. I'd put him 4th.

[21isSuperman]

Depends on how you define it.  If you're asking who adds the most to your team, then sure, Luck, Anderson, Vontae, TY are all in the conversation.  If you're asking who is the best in the league at what they do, you could make a strong case that Vinny is the league's best kicker and McAfee is the league's best punter.

[backshoulderfade]

If Henry can be a consistent rusher inside he is definitely a top player on our team.

[LockeDown]

Well, he did say "arguably" and that's basically what we're doing...arguing about it.   When he said it, I kind of agreed with him.  Probably because I expected Hilton to already be good and he was.  I wasn't expecting Anderson to be as good as he was.  But Irsay has also mentioned Good a few times, and I don't think anyone thought he was a game changer.   It's possible he is voicing what his coaches are whispering.  That they see the talent and believe they could be special down the road.

[Dustin]

He's right tho

[BOTT]

Vontae is the only other option.  So if Irsay is wrong, it's not by much.

[chad72]

Last year, maybe. Langford was a great pick up and did play well and is still underrated, IMO.

 

But overall, Vontae and T.Y. are also key play makers that this team will struggle without. 

[NewColtsFan]

It's not true,  it's not close to being true and remember --- I'm a Stanford guy who predicted we'd take Anderson at pick 93 -- so I'm fully invested in him.

 

But there are some guys named Hilton and Davis and Castanzo who are far better.....     I thought it was a silly and insulting thing for Irsay to say.     And if I was another player on the team,  I would not have been thrilled by such a comment.

 

The comment felt more like damage control than anything else.

 

Pure nonsense.

 

(Hey, did I mention I'm a long time Stanford fan who had hoped for a number of years that the Colts would someday draft Henry?)

 

[B~Town]

20 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

It's not true,  it's not close to being true and remember --- I'm a Stanford guy who predicted we'd take Anderson at pick 93 -- so I'm fully invested in him.

 

But there are some guys named Hilton and Davis and Castanzo who are far better.....     I thought it was a silly and insulting thing for Irsay to say.     And if I was another player on the team,  I would not have been thrilled by such a comment.

 

The comment felt more like damage control than anything else.

 

Pure nonsense.

 

(Hey, did I mention I'm a long time Stanford fan who had hoped for a number of years that the Colts would someday draft Henry?)

 

A rookie playing at the level Anderson was is rare saying he isn't in the discussion is pure nonsense .

[oldunclemark]

Luck and who?

[oldunclemark]

That's not a serious comment by Irsay

[oldunclemark]

38 minutes ago, B~Town said:

A rookie playing at the level Anderson was is rare saying he isn't in the discussion is pure nonsense .

He isn't in the discussion, B

[NewColtsFan]

58 minutes ago, B~Town said:

A rookie playing at the level Anderson was is rare saying he isn't in the discussion is pure nonsense .

 

He was playing really well.     But he was't playing THAT well.     He had one sack.    That's one more than you and me.     He was very good against the run.     But let's not get carried away.

 

We have guys like Castanzo, Davis and Hilton who have made the Pro Bowl.    Anderson was not getting there in his rookie year.      Let's not proclaim him something that he's not just because it makes us feel good and all warm and fuzzy.     He was good.    At times he was very good.     But he wasn't 2nd best player on the team.

 

Not even close.

 

 

[Carlos Danger]

I think this thread and the comments after the article prove that Irsay is correct. There is a percentage of people willing to argue that Anderson is arguably one of the two best players...

 

I don't think Anderson is better than Hilton or Davis. I doubt Irsay does either, but his (off-hand)statement is technically accurate if you ask me. 

[cbear]

Luck

TY

Vontae

Castanzo (one of the most underrated tackles in the league IMO)

 

After that I have no idea. 

 

[LockeDown]

I hope Kelly is in the conversation at some point of his career.   But by then, I hope Luck is the MVP of the league.

[RockThatBlue]

Luck and Mike Adams are the two best players IMO.

 

That said Anderson was definitely a run stuffing beast. Cant wait til hes 100%.

[Lawrence Owen]

6 hours ago, IinD said:

Based on early results you can clearly see Anderson was going to become a player until he got hurt. Now that becomes questionable if he doesn't return as the player he was. Not everyone comes back from knee injuries regardless of age.

 

Luck, don't even need to mention him.

 

 

Anderson had same injury in college, so this makes me slightly scared he could be another Art Jones.  When he's healthy and on the field, no question he's solid...but need him on the field.

[Lawrence Owen]

1 hour ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

He was playing really well.     But he was't playing THAT well.     He had one sack.    That's one more than you and me.     He was very good against the run.     But let's not get carried away.

 

We have guys like Castanzo, Davis and Hilton who have made the Pro Bowl.    Anderson was not getting there in his rookie year.      Let's not proclaim him something that he's not just because it makes us feel good and all warm and fuzzy.     He was good.    At times he was very good.     But he wasn't 2nd best player on the team.

 

Not even close.

 

 

He was in the convo by analyst's of DPOY award.  He had 1 sack but a ton of pressures and lots of backfeild hits, not to mention he was an anchor, and done it top notch.  it was not just his stats that get put on paper that made him great that 1/2 year he played.

That being said, he played 1/2 a year.  had the same injury that sidelined him in college for a bit.  The is just not enough of his play time to say he's better at his position than Vonte, A.C, or Hilton.  But I will say this. I LOVE his play when on the field.  His play make others around him better, 

[NewColtsFan]

21 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

He was in the convo by analyst's of DPOY award.  He had 1 sack but a ton of pressures and lots of backfeild hits, not to mention he was an anchor, and done it top notch.  it was not just his stats that get put on paper that made him great that 1/2 year he played.

That being said, he played 1/2 a year.  had the same injury that sidelined him in college for a bit.  The is just not enough of his play time to say he's better at his position than Vonte, A.C, or Hilton.  But I will say this. I LOVE his play when on the field.  His play make others around him better, 

 

Hey.....     I'm a fan of Henry Anderson!      No one here loves him more than I do!     I followed from high school in Atlanta to Stanford and now to Indianapolis....     I love him.

 

I just don't think he's our 2nd best player.     Not better than Vonte...    not better than TYH....     not better than AC....      Even if you think he slots in here,  that makes him 5th overall which is impressive.

 

I just wouldn't put him up there in the 2nd spot based on basically a half a rookie season.....

 

[IinD]

Irsay would be correct though if you weigh the Colts as two teams (offense and defense), Andersoni is huge in that he seemed on the cusp of being a disruptive impact player. Most rookies aren't impact guys, heck, must aren't even disruptive and Andersonw was doing really well at one and on his way to the other (potentially) and had basically played half a season. 

 

Most on D are solid, but no one is great or looks to potentially one day be great. VD is very good, but I've always thought he's a bit overrated. Not saying it in a bad way at all.

 

I equate his comments to that of an owner who drafts a rookie RB who gets to 1K yards in his 7th or 8th game and then suffers an acl. He knows he could potentially have a game changer, but will now have to wait.

 

As to if he's literally one of our best two you'd probably have to say no, but he's pretty up there in our future plans.

 

Apologies for the rant...the brownies.

[Superman]

Meh. 

 

But I will say, no one on defense played better than Anderson last year.

[Lawrence Owen]

6 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Hey.....     I'm a fan of Henry Anderson!      No one here loves him more than I do!     I followed from high school in Atlanta to Stanford and now to Indianapolis....     I love him.

 

I just don't think he's our 2nd best player.     Not better than Vonte...    not better than TYH....     not better than AC....      Even if you think he slots in here,  that makes him 5th overall which is impressive.

 

I just wouldn't put him up there in the 2nd spot based on basically a half a rookie season.....

 

pretty much same thing I said, "not enough info to judge...yet..but loved what I saw."

[ColtsFanMikeC]

On 5/5/2016 at 5:43 PM, B~Town said:

A rookie playing at the level Anderson was is rare saying he isn't in the discussion is pure nonsense .

 

He played 8.75 games. He was very productive during that amount of time, but we have players on our team that have made pro-bowls in the past couple of years (Davis, TY, Adams both 2 years in a row.... DQwell in 2014 and lead AFC in combined tackles in 2015.... Vinny and Pat McAfee give us arguably the best set of kicking legs in the league...).  Castonzo has been one of the mure durable, reliable, and consistent LTs in the league despite playing on a crap OL for the past 4-5 years.  We have a possible future HOFer on this defense in Mathis.

 

Irsay says it is arguable... sure throw Anderson in the discussion, but he is NOT our 2nd best player based on just slightly over 1/2  a regular season played and due to the fact we have no idea how he will rebound.  Heck, I don't think Matt Overton has botched a long-snap in his time here, which might make him arguably the best player on our team -- I think we can think of players at every other position, including Luck, who have failed at their job/task at least once.

 

23 hours ago, cbear said:

Luck

TY

Vontae

Castanzo (one of the most underrated tackles in the league IMO)

 

After that I have no idea. 

 

 

Mike Adams, D'Qwell Jackson, Adam Vinatieri, Pat McAfee.

 

Then in the argument with Anderson are Dwayne Allen, Kendall Langford, Robert Mathis...

 

As far as projected players (non-rookies) -- Geathers (IMO) has just as bright a future as Anderson.

[Surge89]

On 5/5/2016 at 6:20 PM, NewColtsFan said:

It's not true,  it's not close to being true and remember --- I'm a Stanford guy who predicted we'd take Anderson at pick 93 -- so I'm fully invested in him.

 

But there are some guys named Hilton and Davis and Castanzo who are far better.....     I thought it was a silly and insulting thing for Irsay to say.     And if I was another player on the team,  I would not have been thrilled by such a comment.

 

The comment felt more like damage control than anything else.

 

Pure nonsense.

 

(Hey, did I mention I'm a long time Stanford fan who had hoped for a number of years that the Colts would someday draft Henry?)

 

 

 

I think you are trying to be nonbiased towards him and it's having an adverse effect.

 

Sacks or no sacks Anderson was playing at an extremely high level when he played relative to the rest of the 3-4 DE's in the league.  And it was very evident when he left with injury how all of a sudden the Dline's impact almost cut in half.

 

Is he clear cut 2nd best on the team last year? No.  But to say he isn't in the argument? He most definitely is.

 

Aside from Adams and Hilton he has a better case than a bunch of others including Costanzo, Davis and DQ. Imo

[Gavin]

 

 

Luck (Overall)

Hilton

Mewhort

Anderson

Langford

Going back over several games I think you can make a legit case Cole played as good as Mathis in less snaps last year and better overall against the run. He applied more constant pressure in my opinion though Mathis got 3 more sacks (Yes I know that goes against the grain but as most of you know by now I've never been afraid to give a different opinion on what I see.....I also base my opinion on PFF overall grades and reasons for those grades

 

 

I need to see more pass rush from Anderson (And while Langford was better in that category than Henry he was not as good against the run as Henry....Neither were bad but neither were great.....Parry started out well then went horrible by about week 9-10 and stayed that way). I think the position will need to be upgraded asap.

 

I really hope Ridgeway can come in stay healthy, Improve his conditioning and be a force. I was hoping Kerr could be that guy but I think conditioning will end up costing him a roster spot....Though in the limited snaps he got last year he played well overall but I don't think was on the field much cause of stamina

 

[LockeDown]

8 hours ago, Gavin said:

 

 

Luck (Overall)

Hilton

Mewhort

Anderson

Langford

Going back over several games I think you can make a legit case Cole played as good as Mathis in less snaps last year and better overall against the run. He applied more constant pressure in my opinion though Mathis got 3 more sacks (Yes I know that goes against the grain but as most of you know by now I've never been afraid to give a different opinion on what I see.....I also base my opinion on PFF overall grades and reasons for those grades

 

 

I need to see more pass rush from Anderson (And while Langford was better in that category than Henry he was not as good against the run as Henry....Neither were bad but neither were great.....Parry started out well then went horrible by about week 9-10 and stayed that way). I think the position will need to be upgraded asap.

 

I really hope Ridgeway can come in stay healthy, Improve his conditioning and be a force. I was hoping Kerr could be that guy but I think conditioning will end up costing him a roster spot....Though in the limited snaps he got last year he played well overall but I don't think was on the field much cause of stamina

 

These big athletic defensive guys are like centers in the NBA.  So few of them and they struggle w with conditioning because they have to carry all that weight.  You hear about most of them taking off plays.  Their desire and motor are questioned.  Tough position to play.