LB Gerald Hodges visited Colts today

[Superman]

12 hours ago, akcolt said:

CB group started with Davis one of if not our best player on D. That alone put it heads and shoulders above the LB's. We spend two draft picks there, one being a early day 2 pick and land a guy who could've went in the 1st IMO. CB has been handled differently but I don't think it's been neglected.

 

...

 

You nailed it Supe you aren't comfortable with the hold overs Melvin Morris Milton and Mitchel. All M's....look at that. 

 

The LB's were addressed in FA so it feels more certain in what we are getting. We had nothing at ILB and close to nothing at OLB. We certainly didn't have a guy who should be starting Sunday's. 

 

We had to add starters at all 4 LB's spots. We had to sign FA's We could end up with out a carry over at either group from last year. That's how bad it was. 

 

I can't say how happy I am we brought Hodges in. I hope we sign him. We would be looking pretty good on paper if we did. Sheard Simon Hodges and Spence is not too shabby. 

 

 

If Davis gets hurt, nicked up, whatever, there's a big problem. But really, it's the bolded that really gets at the heart of the matter. I don't like those M guys. Obviously the staff is more comfortable with them than I am.

 

Even at ILB, though we've added vets, there's still a lot of uncertainty. I assume they like Spence to start, but that's not decided. Jackson still has some development potential, and they added Bostic, who has pretty good level starter experience (at his best, he was a better starter than Spence, and he's a year younger). Adding Hodges would up the talent level for sure, and presumably, he'd be a starter. I have no problem adding him at the right price.

[Superman]

2 hours ago, ColtsBlitz said:

Just took a look: imo, around 10 of the games we have will be run-first teams-

Titans(2), Texans(2), Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks, 49ers, Jags(2), Steelers are a strong run team, and Bills. That's 12 games of run-heavy teams in a passing league. I think Ballard's moves had intention upon our schedule too. 

 

Well I certainly hope not. I don't think you build a roster based on what you expect out of your scheduled opponents. The league changes too much for that.

 

The Titans will probably be throwing the ball more than they have in times past. The Cardinals and Seahawks have very capable passing attacks and really good QBs. The Jags have been able to throw the ball all over the place on us in previous games, and we all know what Big Ben and AB do to us. Heaven knows what the Texans, Rams and Niners will do offensively.

 

I do think that if we're better up front, it will help the passing defense. More forced passing situations, teams can't rely on running the ball, maybe more pass rush, hopefully better coverage in the flats and across the middle... These are projections, based on the personnel. We'll see how it works out.

 

But I think we have a hole at CB2, unless Quincy Wilson is ready to start and play at an acceptable level in Year 1. And maybe he is, but there's still not a lot of depth. As I said, it's mostly a function of me not liking the players we already had, but they've approached the secondary differently than they've approached the rest of the defensive personnel.

[Indy1996]

20 hours ago, The Peytonator said:

I thought he was signed by someone else a while ago, but I wanted either him or Minter from the beginning of the offseason. I would really like this move as I think LB is our weakest spot. Morrison and Walker are not answers to that problem, I liked Poundcake but he should be a role player, and Spence is a stopgap. I guess Hodges would be a stopgap too, but a pretty solid one I reckon. 

Holdon your talking % about Anthony walker when he is hella good

[indyagent17]

Wonder what came of the visit yesterday with Hodges?

[akcolt]

2 hours ago, dgambill said:

Don't get me wrong...would love another stud corner to lock down the opposite side 

I think we have that in Wilson. There was a time back before everyone started running around in their underwear. Wilson was one of the guys at the top of the CB rankings. His combine numbers mirrored Peters. I think he had the best short shuttle among all CB's. 

 

I feel like we landed 2 1st rounders. When ithe dust settles we could have the best press corner in the class. Davis and Wilson will be able to get  into people with Hooker over the top.

 

I want to see them on the field. Can Hairston challenge in the slot?  I am not interested in an aging vet. I'd really like to see the staff develop a guy we carried over Milton.has 4.3 speed and is an asset on special teams. Ballard will be watching for sure. I think we stay young regardless.

[ColtsBlitz]

47 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Well I certainly hope not. I don't think you build a roster based on what you expect out of your scheduled opponents. The league changes too much for that.

 

The Titans will probably be throwing the ball more than they have in times past. The Cardinals and Seahawks have very capable passing attacks and really good QBs. The Jags have been able to throw the ball all over the place on us in previous games, and we all know what Big Ben and AB do to us. Heaven knows what the Texans, Rams and Niners will do offensively.

 

I do think that if we're better up front, it will help the passing defense. More forced passing situations, teams can't rely on running the ball, maybe more pass rush, hopefully better coverage in the flats and across the middle... These are projections, based on the personnel. We'll see how it works out.

Good points. I guess I was just taking a shot in the dark, but I'm not really concerned on how good our defense is between 20th and up to top 10. We've shown that with a 20th ranked defense we have playoff potential and I think we will be better than rank 20 as of right now. Concerns are there for every team, and ours have been reduced considerably, although questions still linger. Less to worry about, more to look forward to in coming years. 

[dgambill]

39 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Well I certainly hope not. I don't think you build a roster based on what you expect out of your scheduled opponents. The league changes too much for that.

 

The Titans will probably be throwing the ball more than they have in times past. The Cardinals and Seahawks have very capable passing attacks and really good QBs. The Jags have been able to throw the ball all over the place on us in previous games, and we all know what Big Ben and AB do to us. Heaven knows what the Texans, Rams and Niners will do offensively.

 

I do think that if we're better up front, it will help the passing defense. More forced passing situations, teams can't rely on running the ball, maybe more pass rush, hopefully better coverage in the flats and across the middle... These are projections, based on the personnel. We'll see how it works out.

 

But I think we have a hole at CB2, unless Quincy Wilson is ready to start and play at an acceptable level in Year 1. And maybe he is, but there's still not a lot of depth. As I said, it's mostly a function of me not liking the players we already had, but they've approached the secondary differently than they've approached the rest of the defensive personnel.

Yep...can't anticipate those things...especially when half of your FA was done before the draft and you can't be reacting to other teams or you'll not be focused on what your team needs to get better.

 

I think its a combination of what was out there and how much it would cost to bring in the kinda caliber he is hoping to build and what was in the draft. It is super clear he likes taller/bigger corners with long arms. I think the list of those in FA was pretty small...and the draft we added a couple that fit that picture. Then we spent first pick on rangy FS. Add that to Davis and Butler and I think he believes in the Melvin and company to fill in the scraps since a couple of those have some decent size and even though Melvin wasn't great....he competed HARD last year. I liked his tenacity...just not his ability. Hopefully he gets better. I worry about Quincy too...rookie corners rarely fair well.....but I think Ballard just had little choice. Couldn't fix it all...and wasn't going to bring in a guy to fill a spot if he didn't fit the mold of what he is building.....so no young/tall corners in FA meant he is going to wait on that spot to fill later or just work through the draft. To me its a good way to build a team. Don't try to do it all in one offseason or you might get stuck with bad fits or just spread your quality so thin you don't really address anything (ie Grigson rebuild). I'm cool....we know what we have...we built a ton of competition at a lot of weak areas last year. We should be a better team.....whether the record will reflect that I think will come down to execution...and a lot with how well this coaching staff progresses. They don't have any excuses not to be able to compete in every game and be in the playoff hunt.

[stitches]

@SupermanWhat do you think about Brandon Boykin? He used to be a very good slot corner and is still just 26. He missed last year with injury but is still a free agent. I wonder why nobody is signing him?

[Boiler_Colt]

56 minutes ago, stitches said:

@SupermanWhat do you think about Brandon Boykin? He used to be a very good slot corner and is still just 26. He missed last year with injury but is still a free agent. I wonder why nobody is signing him?

Degenerative hip condition I believe.

[stitches]

8 minutes ago, Boiler_Colt said:

Degenerative hip condition I believe.

That doesn't sound good. I was searching for news about him, but couldn't find anything.

[will426]

Most teams start to do bad when they lose thier top corner..only team who invests in corners and make it work is Denver  every other team you lose that #1 they're gonna struggle..so I don't look at it as that serious pass rush was our main issues last year our scrubs played decent at times but the pass rush still left them on islands for 4-7seconds sometimes  plus we played zone 

[Superman]

1 hour ago, stitches said:

That doesn't sound good. I was searching for news about him, but couldn't find anything.

 

It's not confirmed, I don't think, but there was a lot of noise about it last offseason. He's also a smallish guy, like you said, primarily for the slot. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm a little more concerned with the outside.

[RockThatBlue]

16 hours ago, krunk said:

I'm not that concerned with the corner depth. I'm sure we will make an addition or two there, but I think we have a couple pieces. Butler is always an option at nickel. Hairston is in play there as well. Personally I think Melvin is a good depth piece. I'm really not that big on Darryl Morris. I'm expecting him to be released at some point and replaced. We still dont know what we have in Tevin Mitchel but hes got all the size and athleticism the coaches like. Also plays nickel and outside. I'm sure Ballard has a plan. Patience.

I like Melvin too. He played decent when he played last year

 

[COLTS449]

On ‎5‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 4:35 PM, Superman said:

It's interesting to me how many front seven players they've brought in already, but they haven't added any veterans to the secondary. We're super thin at corner.

 

We'll probably pick up somebody after the June cuts, but we've had a really good offseason, but we should have went after one of the corners in free agency. Even if we couldn't get Bouye or Gilmore, there were 4-5 other guys we should have went after, and we should have signed one. One of Amukamara, Kirkpatrick, Claiborne, Webster, or Carr. Or even Marcus Cooper. As of now. What would it hurt to sign Brandon Flowers for dirt cheap. Couldn't hurt. He was pretty bad this past year, but who knows. Put him in the slot and see what he can do. What about McKelvin? Or even Revis, Brock, Porter, Powers, Boykin, or even a 34 year old Tramon Williams. Again. For a little over league minimum. What could it hurt? Maybe one of these guys has a good year with us, maybe they don't. Who knows. But I think we need to bring another corner in. Whether by trade, a June cut, or one of these guys. And about Revis. He's only like 31. He was horrible this year, but he may have a major bounce back year with some team. LOL. Again. Who knows. But IMO... Best case would be to just sign Brock if he's going to be able to play at least 12 games. He's a really good corner. Would be a real steal. With our need for another corner that'd be the best move if he's gonna be on the field. I'd say sign him and Revis and see what happens.

[COLTS449]

By the way. Hodges is an ascending player whose best football is these next 3-5 years. He started to put it all together this year, and would be a tremendous signing. Hodges and Spence would tear it up IMO.

[COLTS449]

LOL. Melvin??????? Melvin sucks. He's a 5th corner, special teamer at best. I don't even want him being out number 4.

[Mr. Irrelevant]

17 minutes ago, COLTS449 said:

By the way. Hodges is an ascending player whose best football is these next 3-5 years. He started to put it all together this year, and would be a tremendous signing. Hodges and Spence would tear it up IMO.

 

 

Cool! If Clayton Geathers is out, we need those ILB's to step it up, so that might have contributed to considering him. 

[COLTS449]

8 hours ago, Superman said:

 

It's not confirmed, I don't think, but there was a lot of noise about it last offseason. He's also a smallish guy, like you said, primarily for the slot. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm a little more concerned with the outside.

 

Boykin was like the best slot CB in the NFL for a year or 2. But hey @Superman....What do you think about Quincy Wilson? You don't think he can be a solid number 2 as a rookie? Just curious.

[Peterk2011]

6 hours ago, COLTS449 said:

Boykin was like the best slot CB in the NFL for a year or 2. But hey @Superman....What do you think about Quincy Wilson? You don't think he can be a solid number 2 as a rookie? Just curious.

 

Honestly, imo it doesn't really matter. Talents like Wilson - who if not 2017 and the sooo deep CB class, would've probably been a round1 pick - usually starst day1. Bradley Roby, Lamarcus Joiner, Jalen Collins, Eric Rowe, Arty Burns, Bradberry, X. Howard, etc. to name a few from recent drafts. All were involved heavily from day1. I believe not only Quincy, but other round2 picks like Withserspoon, Teez Tabor, Sidney Jones, Kevin King will all have significant roles in their respective teams as well.

[Superman]

12 hours ago, COLTS449 said:

 

Boykin was like the best slot CB in the NFL for a year or 2. But hey @Superman....What do you think about Quincy Wilson? You don't think he can be a solid number 2 as a rookie? Just curious.

 

I think if you're counting on a rookie being your starting CB2, you're opening yourself up for some issues. I think Wilson is a really good prospect, but that doesn't alleviate my concerns at the position. 

 

Boykin had a really good year in 2013. I don't think he's been as good since, and he didn't play at all last year. 

[krunk]

More moves will be made to shore things up.    They seem to be focused on getting the draft picks signed right now.  I'm sure they are watching the market.

[richard pallo]

As far as I know his last visit was with the Jags today.  Decision time soon.  The winner is?

[Dark Superman]

I have a feeling that Edwin Jackson is going to surprise a lot of people this year! He showed signs last season of the talent he possesses. Hopefully he can continue to grow!!

[Buddy Lee]

It is risky to count on high draft pick corners to start and perform early on. The Bengals have been burnt twice recently with Dre Kirkpatrick (17th pick in the 1st round) and Darqueze Dennard (24th pick in the first). It took Kirkpatrick 4 years to win a starting job. Dennard only started 4 games in his first three seasons. That isn't to say expect the same for Wilson, but it is to say you really can't count on it working out right out of the shoot.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

On 5/16/2017 at 3:35 PM, Superman said:

It's interesting to me how many front seven players they've brought in already, but they haven't added any veterans to the secondary. We're super thin at corner.

 

I understand your concern at CB, and figured I'd spare quoting the multiple posts about hold-overs, etc.

 

Right now, Butler is listed at S on the roster, though if Hooker comes in and produces, I expect we'll see a lot of Butler back in the slot, which is somewhat comforting. 

 

However, if Geathers gets hurt or Hooker gets hurt/doesn't pan out, I assume we'll see Butler drop back to S over Green and we'd go back to being thin at DB.

 

I was not a huge fan of the hold-overs, but to their credit, we did not have much of a pass rush last season which makes any CB's job harder than it should be.  I'm not all that optimistic our pass rush will be much improved this year, but I don't think it can be much worse.

 

As you have said, I am also high on Wilson and Hairston picks, but CB is one of the hardest positions to play as a rookie in the NFL so we cannot count too much on them right now.

 

Of the holdovers, I like Morris the most and thought he was actually OK towards the end of last year. 

 

I agree, it'd be nice to bring in some vet CBs at least for competition in camp.  However, like  you've also said, this D had a lot of holes and Ballard couldn't be expected to come in and fix the entire D in a year.

 

I tend to like the approach he took.  We were 30th if yards allowed per game last year, and ranked 27th against the pass and 25th against the run.

 

The addition of Hooker should (in theory) help us in the middle of the field passing game.  The addition of Hankins, a healthy (assumed) Langford and another offseason of recovery for Anderson should help us with the run and a bit with pass rush.  Hopefully with all the LBs we added, at least one emerges as a legitimate pass rush threat (my guess would be Sheard), which would tremendously help our CBs out.  Additionally, if our OL improves like I think they can, hopefully our offense can increase their time of possession and keep our D off the field. 

 

 

 

On 5/17/2017 at 9:55 AM, bababooey said:

I just get worried that with training camp and preseason injuries we may end up needing to grab another Cromartie off the couch to give up tons of plays and take a ton of penalties.

I am pretty sure Cromartie will never be wearing a Colts' uniform again.  http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/10/20/antonio-cromarties-wife-says-anthem-protest-got-him-cut/

[AZColt11]

I doubt Cromartie is going to wear ANY uniform again.

[Hoosiernsavga]

21 hours ago, LuckyHooker24 said:

I have a feeling that Edwin Jackson is going to surprise a lot of people this year! He showed signs last season of the talent he possesses. Hopefully he can continue to grow!!

I agree, I'm going as far as saying even with all the transactions Jackson is our best ILB. Most will say Spence but I think Jackson is better. 

[Stephen]

4 hours ago, Hoosiernsavga said:

I agree, I'm going as far as saying even with all the transactions Jackson is our best ILB. Most will say Spence but I think Jackson is better. 

If jackson is our best ilb we in trouble

[aaron11]

 

On 5/19/2017 at 2:49 PM, Buddy Lee said:

It is risky to count on high draft pick corners to start and perform early on. The Bengals have been burnt twice recently with Dre Kirkpatrick (17th pick in the 1st round) and Darqueze Dennard (24th pick in the first). It took Kirkpatrick 4 years to win a starting job. Dennard only started 4 games in his first three seasons. That isn't to say expect the same for Wilson, but it is to say you really can't count on it working out right out of the shoot.

i think we will see wilson start this year due to lack of talent on the roster

 

we need him to be ready to play week one really, his growing pains or lack thereof could be a big part of the colts story this year

[Hoosiernsavga]

3 hours ago, Stephen said:

If jackson is our best ilb we in trouble

Then we are in trouble! Lol 

I would say the early starters are Jackson and Spence. Jackson doesn't have the experience that Spence has. But he has more upside. Jackson is a thumper and plays better and faster side line too side line than anyone else we have right now on the roster including Spence. Walker has the intangibles but he's a rookie. Morrison and Bostic are nothing more than rotational guys. So yes Jackson is our best ILB IMO! 

[Boiler_Colt]

3 minutes ago, Hoosiernsavga said:

Then we are in trouble! Lol 

I would say the early starters are Jackson and Spence. Jackson doesn't have the experience that Spence has. But he has more upside. Jackson is a thumper and plays better and faster side line too side line than anyone else we have right now on the roster including Spence. Walker has the intangibles but he's a rookie. Morrison and Bostic are nothing more than rotational guys. So yes Jackson is our best ILB IMO! 

I would disagree that hes faster than Spence. I view Spence as much more athletic. Jackson has good straight line speed, but not good change of direction and agility. Jackson can get better but I didnt see anything special about him last year that would get me excited for 2017.

[bleevit]

On 5/17/2017 at 2:39 AM, Mr. Irrelevant said:

 

Good point. Since this draft was heavy with talented CB's, the plan might be to wait and see whether a decent quality vat CB will be cut from another team during the summer or when the final roster cuts are made. There are almost bound to happen some moves, and if you're not high on someone in FA now you might as well wait. At least that is how I read it.  

I agree with this assessment. One other thing is Chris Ballard just got here and he may well be following the traditional wisdom of starting up front when building a defense. I can't think of a great defense that is not great up front. Certainly, some very good corners will get let go that can help provide depth.

[Hoosiernsavga]

17 minutes ago, Boiler_Colt said:

I would disagree that hes faster than Spence. I view Spence as much more athletic. Jackson has good straight line speed, but not good change of direction and agility. Jackson can get better but I didnt see anything special about him last year that would get me excited for 2017.

 I don't doubt that Spence is a little more athletic. That's one reason why Spence is still in the league because. I say he by far has the weakest upper body strength for an ILB not only on our roster but in the league. If I can remember correctly I believe he was the weakest at the combine when he came out. I know Spence had a lot of tackles in Tennessee but from everything I have seen Jackson is much stronger and better at shedding blockers. I think they will make a solid ILB corp. Like I said I think Jackson has more upside than Spence only IMO obviously  

[richard pallo]

20 minutes ago, Hoosiernsavga said:

 I don't doubt that Spence is a little more athletic. That's one reason why Spence is still in the league because. I say he by far has the weakest upper body strength for an ILB not only on our roster but in the league. If I can remember correctly I believe he was the weakest at the combine when he came out. I know Spence had a lot of tackles in Tennessee but from everything I have seen Jackson is much stronger and better at shedding blockers. I think they will make a solid ILB corp. Like I said I think Jackson has more upside than Spence only IMO obviously  

Don't forget about Hodges.  We did bring him in and he's still out there for now.  

[krunk]

It doesn't appear anymore, but I saw a tweet from Hodges where he says "I just want to get what I deserve" and a couple more sentences so I assume the issue is money related.   I think he must of deleted the tweet because I can't find it anymore.

[our_dbs_rock]

 

Is this another Zach Brown thing, where he will visit every team and then sign a random one year deal? LOL

[TomDiggs]

2 hours ago, our_dbs_rock said:

 

Is this another Zach Brown thing, where he will visit every team and then sign a random one year deal? LOL

 

I think that is exactly what it is . Visiting Buff and then allegedly the NYG too. If you cannot find someone to pay you what you want, you go and visit everyone and see if someone, anyone will pay you. If not, then you take the 1 year deal that you feel either pays you best or gives you the best chance to land another big payday the following year. I would love to get Hodges, but i do not think we are going to be the team that pays him best. So he would have to come here based on the opportunity to play well and pad his future offers.

[krunk]

  Giants | Gerald Hodges to visit Giants    Mon May 22, 10:10 AM

Free-agent LB Gerald Hodges (49ers) will visit the New York Giants Tuesday, May 23.

Link to story
Gerald Hodges player page

[BR-549]

1 hour ago, krunk said:

  Giants | Gerald Hodges to visit Giants    Mon May 22, 10:10 AM

Free-agent LB Gerald Hodges (49ers) will visit the New York Giants Tuesday, May 23.

Link to story
Gerald Hodges player page

Oh well... time to move on.  Not impressed anyway.

[PrincetonTiger]

1 hour ago, krunk said:

  Giants | Gerald Hodges to visit Giants    Mon May 22, 10:10 AM

Free-agent LB Gerald Hodges (49ers) will visit the New York Giants Tuesday, May 23.

Link to story
Gerald Hodges player page

Very interesting