BlueShoe’s Colts Roster Notes (Post Combine and Pre-Draft)

[BlueShoe]

My summary conclusion is that our top needs are CB, NT, RUSH, RB, and TE. The following notes are how I formed that conclusion.

 

Cornerback:

 

Everyone should be concerned about our cornerbacks. Right now, our starting corners are Vontae Davis (RCB), Rashaan Melvin (LCB), and Daryl Morris (SCB). To make the situation even more dire; Vontae is in the last year of his deal. We need to improve at cornerback in this draft, because Milton, James, Mitchell, Williams, and Scott are surely not the solution. Do not be surprised if we draft a few corners (and early). I would not blame the front office if they drafted two corners in the first 3-4 rounds.

 

Safety:

 

Our core-nucleus at safety (when healthy) is promising. T.J. Green and Clayton Geathers have plenty of potential to be excellent players. I believe Green (on the job training) played very well at times last year, and Geathers has flashed ability when he is healthy. Butler moving over to safety helps a great deal. Farley played decent at times, but he is a serviceable backup. I am very interested in Duke Williams, and I am predicting Duke will be the buzz throughout training camp. I had him ranked #103 overall on my 2013 Big Board, and he was drafted by the Bills in the fourth round. At this time, I don’t view Williamson, McClure, or Hightower as viable answers.

 

Defensive Line:

 

Our defensive line is solid, but I am concerned about NT. We are very fortunate to have Langford, Anderson, Ridgeway, and McGill. Parry was once a highly respected young and upcoming NT, but who knows what kind of legal battles he is facing. We need a long-term solution at NT. The case for Arthur Jones is still an open mystery, and at some point we need to just cut our losses and move on. The new additions of Al Woods and Margus Hunt will be interesting. I want to see more from Sokoli before forming an opinion of him.

 

Linebacker:

 

As of right now I would say Antonio Morrison is our leader (MIKE) of the linebacking group, and I am more than okay with that. I believe he has the potential to be an excellent player. I have penciled in (all three) Sheard, Mingo, and Simon at RUSH. I have Ayers and Maggitt at SAM, and Jackson and Spence at WILL. I haven’t really formed an opinion of Mount, Edwards, King, Rhodes, or Bazzie yet. Edwards is on pace for playing for every team in the league (a true journeyman), and this year could be the first time in a five-year career that he has been on the same team in back-to-back years. We can improve at any linebacker position, and (because of the experience we have) whoever we draft does not need to play early. We need RUSH, SAM, and WILL linebackers for the future.

 

Offensive Line:

 

It is funny how quickly strengths and weaknesses can change in the NFL. For over half a decade, our teams Achilles heel has been the offensive line. We have really struggled to protect our quarterback and to open-up running lanes. That all changed towards the end of last year. Joe Philbin has done a tremendous job with our offensive line. I believe four of our starting five, are exceptional. Castonzo (top 10), Mewhort (top 10), Kelly (unlimited potential), and Haeg (unlimited potential) are everything we ever wanted. Good and Clark will battle it out for the right tackle spot. Schwenke and Blythe should hold down the depth in the middle. Might be hard for some people to imagine, but our offensive line is a strength of this team now. If we draft another offensive lineman then Cage, Redmond, Vujnovich, and Cooper will have a tall ladder to climb to crack the 53.

 

Quarterback:

 

Obviously, Andrew is the starter. However, I do not believe it is cut and dry for our #2. Currently, I have Tolzien penciled in as our backup, but there is no doubt that Morris has more upside. I am rooting for Stephen Morris to win this job in camp. Also, who is to say Ballard won’t bring in another QB he has had his eye on for a while.

 

Running Back:

 

Gore is an ageless wonder, but even he has his limitations. No one beats father time; just ask Robert Mathis and Peyton Manning. It was an excellent choice to bring Turbin back. Ferguson is effective catching the ball (getting him into space), but he is not a runner between the tackles and he hasn’t shown to be a good pass protector. We still need to find that game-changing back, who can threaten a defense on any given play. It’s certainly possible that an elite back could fall in our hands in this draft, and it doesn’t necessarily need to be in the first round. There should be options available on day two. This could finally be the year that we fully address the running back need.

 

Tight End:

 

Currently we only have two tight ends on the roster. Doyle has been my favorite tight end for a couple of years now. Maybe some people will remember (a few years back) when I broke down the three-tight-end-sets and highlighted (with videos) the potential in Doyle. Back then I considered him almost as good of a blocker as Allen and a better (more consistent) receiver than Fleener. Swoope has been patiently learning the game, and started to come-on towards the end of last year. I am excited about our starting tight ends. That said, we do need some competition and depth. I could see us using a draft pick on a tight end, and/or absolutely bringing in some UDFA’s to compete.

 

Wide Receiver:

 

TY and Moncrief are obviously our rocks. Unfortunately, Donte had a rough year with injuries. Philip Dorsett didn’t step up when Donte went down last year; and that should concern us. I think Dorsett might be a situational type player, and maybe he wasn’t worthy of a first round pick. He has a lot of talent, but he has not been consistent enough to count on. I would feel better with 12 personnel (TY, Moncrief, Doyle, and Swoope) than 11 personnel right now, and that should say something about where our talent level currently is. It could go either way with Dorsett, but he needs (prove himself) turn it around this year or we need to find another solution. Rogers is serviceable, and Bray, Street, Smith, and Leak all have a shot to find a home on the team.

[NewColtsFan]

 

Great post.

 

One item jumps out.....     Simon is a strong side backer...    he's not a rush.    Believe he said so in an interview on Colts.com

 

Simon was signed to play opposite Sheard,  not play behind him.

 

Otherwise,  very good breakdown....

 

[BlueShoe]

4 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Great post.

 

One item jumps out.....     Simon is a strong side backer...    he's not a rush.    Believe he said so in an interview on Colts.com

 

Simon was signed to play opposite Sheard,  not play behind him.

 

Otherwise,  very good breakdown....

 

 

Thanks. I saw the interview too, but I am just not sold on Simon at SAM. I don't see a natural position on this team for him.

 

Hopefully he proves me wrong.

[Gabriel Alexander Morillo]

You also didn't mention that Davis had a very poor year on top of him being the last year of his deal. We should be very very worried about our secondary this season. 

 

And I don't think there was one game where Green performed acceptably but that's jmo. 

 

Morrison is also pretty terrible and no one should feel comfortable with him leading any defense. 


The rest of your post is solid. And there is a lot of it. So don't take my very small criticisms as me vehemently disagreeing with you. Just things that stuck out to me. 

[BlueShoe]

1 minute ago, Gabriel Alexander Morillo said:

You also didn't mention that Davis had a very poor year on top of him being the last year of his deal. We should be very very worried about our secondary this season. 

 

And I don't think there was one game where Green performed acceptably but that's jmo. 

 

Morrison is also pretty terrible and no one should feel comfortable with him leading any defense. 


The rest of your post is solid. And there is a lot of it. So don't take my very small criticisms as me vehemently disagreeing with you. Just things that stuck out to me. 

 

No worries. We all have our own opinions and none of us are always correct.

 

Vontae had a down year, as far as his standards for sure. 

[richard pallo]

Outstanding job.  Just for grins NFL.com did a post FA analysis ranking every teams top needs after FA.  For the Colts he listed OL,DL,RB.  Most Colts fans seem to be comfortable letting Haag and Clark start this year. We have lost Reitz, a former starter, and a few backups and added a backup.  Most analysts feel there is still a need to help Luck on the OL.  And we know how CB feels about the trenches.  I would not be surprised if we draft OL with our 1st. pick. Maybe trade back and draft OL.  I really think it's a strong possibility.  DL means NT to me.  I can see a trade if Hankins is not brought in. Everyone is on board with RB as a need. Still possible more players can be brought in before the draft and of course I don't think Chris is hesitant about a trade as we have already seen.  Going to be a fun month leading up to the draft and the draft itself could be full of surprises. 

[NannyMcafee]

1 hour ago, richard pallo said:

Outstanding job.  Just for grins NFL.com did a post FA analysis ranking every teams top needs after FA.  For the Colts he listed OL,DL,RB.  Most Colts fans seem to be comfortable letting Haag and Clark start this year. We have lost Reitz, a former starter, and a few backups and added a backup.  Most analysts feel there is still a need to help Luck on the OL.  And we know how CB feels about the trenches.  I would not be surprised if we draft OL with our 1st. pick. Maybe trade back and draft OL.  I really think it's a strong possibility.  DL means NT to me.  I can see a trade if Hankins is not brought in. Everyone is on board with RB as a need. Still possible more players can be brought in before the draft and of course I don't think Chris is hesitant about a trade as we have already seen.  Going to be a fun month leading up to the draft and the draft itself could be full of surprises. 

 

I would be ok with drafting oline first if we can get a good starter. I feel the colts are one G away from having a solid oline. 

[throwing BBZ]

Yo

3 hours ago, BlueShoe said:

My summary conclusion is that our top needs are CB, NT, RUSH, RB, and TE. The following notes are how I formed that conclusion.

 

Cornerback:

 

Everyone should be concerned about our cornerbacks. Right now, our starting corners are Vontae Davis (RCB), Rashaan Melvin (LCB), and Daryl Morris (SCB). To make the situation even more dire; Vontae is in the last year of his deal. We need to improve at cornerback in this draft, because Milton, James, Mitchell, Williams, and Scott are surely not the solution. Do not be surprised if we draft a few corners (and early). I would not blame the front office if they drafted two corners in the first 3-4 rounds.

 

Safety:

 

Our core-nucleus at safety (when healthy) is promising. T.J. Green and Clayton Geathers have plenty of potential to be excellent players. I believe Green (on the job training) played very well at times last year, and Geathers has flashed ability when he is healthy. Butler moving over to safety helps a great deal. Farley played decent at times, but he is a serviceable backup. I am very interested in Duke Williams, and I am predicting Duke will be the buzz throughout training camp. I had him ranked #103 overall on my 2013 Big Board, and he was drafted by the Bills in the fourth round. At this time, I don’t view Williamson, McClure, or Hightower as viable answers.

 

Defensive Line:

 

Our defensive line is solid, but I am concerned about NT. We are very fortunate to have Langford, Anderson, Ridgeway, and McGill. Parry was once a highly respected young and upcoming NT, but who knows what kind of legal battles he is facing. We need a long-term solution at NT. The case for Arthur Jones is still an open mystery, and at some point we need to just cut our losses and move on. The new additions of Al Woods and Margus Hunt will be interesting. I want to see more from Sokoli before forming an opinion of him.

 

Linebacker:

 

As of right now I would say Antonio Morrison is our leader (MIKE) of the linebacking group, and I am more than okay with that. I believe he has the potential to be an excellent player. I have penciled in (all three) Sheard, Mingo, and Simon at RUSH. I have Ayers and Maggitt at SAM, and Jackson and Spence at WILL. I haven’t really formed an opinion of Mount, Edwards, King, Rhodes, or Bazzie yet. Edwards is on pace for playing for every team in the league (a true journeyman), and this year could be the first time in a five-year career that he has been on the same team in back-to-back years. We can improve at any linebacker position, and (because of the experience we have) whoever we draft does not need to play early. We need RUSH, SAM, and WILL linebackers for the future.

 

Offensive Line:

 

It is funny how quickly strengths and weaknesses can change in the NFL. For over half a decade, our teams Achilles heel has been the offensive line. We have really struggled to protect our quarterback and to open-up running lanes. That all changed towards the end of last year. Joe Philbin has done a tremendous job with our offensive line. I believe four of our starting five, are exceptional. Castonzo (top 10), Mewhort (top 10), Kelly (unlimited potential), and Haeg (unlimited potential) are everything we ever wanted. Good and Clark will battle it out for the right tackle spot. Schwenke and Blythe should hold down the depth in the middle. Might be hard for some people to imagine, but our offensive line is a strength of this team now. If we draft another offensive lineman then Cage, Redmond, Vujnovich, and Cooper will have a tall ladder to climb to crack the 53.

 

Quarterback:

 

Obviously, Andrew is the starter. However, I do not believe it is cut and dry for our #2. Currently, I have Tolzien penciled in as our backup, but there is no doubt that Morris has more upside. I am rooting for Stephen Morris to win this job in camp. Also, who is to say Ballard won’t bring in another QB he has had his eye on for a while.

 

Running Back:

 

Gore is an ageless wonder, but even he has his limitations. No one beats father time; just ask Robert Mathis and Peyton Manning. It was an excellent choice to bring Turbin back. Ferguson is effective catching the ball (getting him into space), but he is not a runner between the tackles and he hasn’t shown to be a good pass protector. We still need to find that game-changing back, who can threaten a defense on any given play. It’s certainly possible that an elite back could fall in our hands in this draft, and it doesn’t necessarily need to be in the first round. There should be options available on day two. This could finally be the year that we fully address the running back need.

 

Tight End:

 

Currently we only have two tight ends on the roster. Doyle has been my favorite tight end for a couple of years now. Maybe some people will remember (a few years back) when I broke down the three-tight-end-sets and highlighted (with videos) the potential in Doyle. Back then I considered him almost as good of a blocker as Allen and a better (more consistent) receiver than Fleener. Swoope has been patiently learning the game, and started to come-on towards the end of last year. I am excited about our starting tight ends. That said, we do need some competition and depth. I could see us using a draft pick on a tight end, and/or absolutely bringing in some UDFA’s to compete.

 

Wide Receiver:

 

TY and Moncrief are obviously our rocks. Unfortunately, Donte had a rough year with injuries. Philip Dorsett didn’t step up when Donte went down last year; and that should concern us. I think Dorsett might be a situational type player, and maybe he wasn’t worthy of a first round pick. He has a lot of talent, but he has not been consistent enough to count on. I would feel better with 12 personnel (TY, Moncrief, Doyle, and Swoope) than 11 personnel right now, and that should say something about where our talent level currently is. It could go either way with Dorsett, but he needs (prove himself) turn it around this year or we need to find another solution. Rogers is serviceable, and Bray, Street, Smith, and Leak all have a shot to find a home on the team.

 

 You killed some time with this one.
 A fair view of things but... at your O-Line exceptionalism.
 

[polk_high_allstar]

34 minutes ago, NannyMcafee said:

 

I would be ok with drafting oline first if we can get a good starter. I feel the colts are one G away from having a solid oline. 

I am really getting behind drafting Lamp in the 1st then drafting a CB in the 2nd (most years these 2nd rounders would be classed as 1st round talents).  If Sidney Jones is available @ our 3rd pick then I would be giddy going back to back CB's.  4th round I see us having to grab a RB and possibly a NT if we don't address in FA.  Not liking the depth @ ILB in this years draft so we may have to wait to address next year or groom our own guys. 

 

Would like to know the boards feeling on Dede Westbrook.  I like the talent and think he'll be there with one of our 4ths and Ballard was in KC draft room when they took Hill so do they forget the off field stuff and take a chance?  I know it sounds bad but I'm getting a little fed up on the Colts passing on some character issue guys in college and they turn out to be fine in the NFL

[RomanianColtsFan]

I'd definitely like to see a very good corner and a linebacker drafted in the first 2 rounds, in no particular order.  After that any position would be good as long as the player is evaluated correctly, RB, TE, S.

[NannyMcafee]

2 hours ago, polk_high_allstar said:

I am really getting behind drafting Lamp in the 1st then drafting a CB in the 2nd (most years these 2nd rounders would be classed as 1st round talents).  If Sidney Jones is available @ our 3rd pick then I would be giddy going back to back CB's.  4th round I see us having to grab a RB and possibly a NT if we don't address in FA.  Not liking the depth @ ILB in this years draft so we may have to wait to address next year or groom our own guys. 

 

Would like to know the boards feeling on Dede Westbrook.  I like the talent and think he'll be there with one of our 4ths and Ballard was in KC draft room when they took Hill so do they forget the off field stuff and take a chance?  I know it sounds bad but I'm getting a little fed up on the Colts passing on some character issue guys in college and they turn out to be fine in the NFL

 

I feel lamp maybe a bit underrated. 

[Defjamz26]

18 hours ago, Gabriel Alexander Morillo said:

You also didn't mention that Davis had a very poor year on top of him being the last year of his deal. We should be very very worried about our secondary this season. 

 

And I don't think there was one game where Green performed acceptably but that's jmo. 

 

Morrison is also pretty terrible and no one should feel comfortable with him leading any defense. 


The rest of your post is solid. And there is a lot of it. So don't take my very small criticisms as me vehemently disagreeing with you. Just things that stuck out to me. 

The same things jumped out to me as well. I don't think anyone can say Green was "promising ". All the hype around him is just based on measureables. "He's big and fast so he's got to be good!!!". There's no indication of a skill set to be a successful FS.

 

And Morrison is a slow, un-athletic LB who can't play all 3 downs. The exact opposite of what Ballard says he wants. I wouldn't feel comfortable with him starting at all.

 

So I agree with you. I also disagree about the line. RG is still a question mark. Ballard could easily draft Forrest Lamp round 1 and let Haeg Clark battle it out for RT. Good shouldn't make the final 53.

[jimmy g]

I don't know how well Jordan Todman blocks, but the kid can run!  Give him Ferguson's spot.