The Current State of The Colts Roster (March)

[BlueShoe]

On 3/24/2018 at 2:27 PM, DaColts85 said:

Very good breakdown.  The only thing I would say is imo we will run more 2 TE's than people think.  Reich is all about a mismatch and switch up.  Having Doyle and Ebron with the ability to own the middle and a mismatch on a nickel will be a huge advantage for us.  You can easily have Ebron bump out like Gronk does a lot.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

I am sure we will use some 12 personnel. I think our base package will be 11 personnel though. 

[BlueShoe]

On 3/24/2018 at 4:10 PM, superrep1967 said:

Nice job! What is your mock draft?

 

Thank you. 

 

My latest Colts mock is here. 

 

 

[BlueShoe]

On 3/24/2018 at 4:20 PM, masnerj said:

Great write-up! 

 

I just had a few things to point out:

- John Simon will most likely play a linebacker position as he isn't big enough to play 4-3 DE. Sheard is a perfect fit for the 4-3 DE

- I am not so sure about Hairston on the outside. In all likelihood we have Desir and Wilson on the outside and maybe a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick in the room to push for a starting position. Hairston has shown a nice niche playing slot corner.

 

Thanks for the kind words. 

 

While it’s possible that Simon could move to SAM, I think he is an Edge player. Mathis played DE in this same system and he was the same size as Simon. If we moved Simon to SAM then he would be in coverage a lot, and that is not his strength. 

 

Playing outside corner in zone coverage is much different than outside or inside in man coverage. I think Hairston is a good fit at outside corner in this new system. 

[BlueShoe]

20 hours ago, Defjamz26 said:

I’ve been preaching about the LB situation for months. That’s possibly the sketchiest position group on the whole roster. We didn’t get to get a long enough look at Walker to know what we have in him. Morrison is one of the worst players on the roster and was a Pagano style player. 

 

Yeah. As soon as the words “we are moving to a 4-3” came out of Ballard’s mouth, and he confirmed what we all suspected, I wrote a post about the linebackers. 

 

 

[BlueShoe]

7 hours ago, azcolt said:

I can’t imagine anyone seriously stating that we can be confident Luck will be back and in “great shape” this season — and even if he is back, we have no idea if he will still be an elite qb. Of course, the Colts are expressing optimism as they were a year ago. Ticket sales still matter. 

 

With him him at close to 100% we could be above .500. Without him, we’ll have a chance to draft his replacement next year.

 

We were in position to take a new franchise quarterback, and we decided to move back. If any team needs a quarterback then this is certainly the draft to get one. 

 

In my opinion, Ballard moving back explained it enough for me. 

[BlueShoe]

On 3/26/2018 at 3:27 AM, Jaredfor3 said:

First off, nice write up Blue shoe!

 

As others have said and I agree, LB is the biggest weakness on the team! Then followed by WR. 

 

 Can LB Tremaine Edmunds cover though? I like his upside as a prospect and is an athletic freak. Edmunds has the size to be a DE.  I like that Edmunds can virtually line up at any LB spot. He kinda reminds me of LB Donte Hightower of New England. 

 

I think SS Derwin James would be a good fit for our team too. He is versatile enough to play slot corner, weak side linebacker, and of course strong safety. He has elite quickness, speed, and athleticism. I think he is better served playing near the line of scrimmage much like former Colt Bob Sanders and former Redskin Sean Taylor. 

 

I hope WR Courtland Sutton falls to us in the second round. We need a big WR across from T.Y. That and another big body along with TE Eric Ebron would be a plus in the red zone. 

 

Thanks for the kind words. 

 

Yeah. I think OL, LB, and WR are the biggest needs.

 

Edmunds played MLB in college and yes he can cover. In the NFL, I am not sure if he stays in the middle or plays on the edge. I think it will depend on the team that drafts him. 

 

Derwin James could definitely play WILL in this defense. He is one of the best players in this draft. I am not sure we take him at 6 though, especially if Nelson and Chubb are on the board. Now I could absolutely see us grabbing him at 11 or 12 if we move back again. 

 

I think Sutton will be there at 36/37/49. 

[Defjamz26]

2 hours ago, BlueShoe said:

 

Yeah. As soon as the words “we are moving to a 4-3” came out of Ballard’s mouth, and he confirmed what we all suspected, I wrote a post about the linebackers. 

 

 

I probably posted in that topic too lol. But I’m not sure what Ballard has in store. You can’t play a 4-3 zone without speedy LBs who can cover. And the MLB position specifically is very important in a Tampa-2

 

We’ve got the draft capital to draft multiple LBs now, but we need to get one of Edmunds, Vander-Esch, or Evans to play MLB. I have this feeling that Ballard might shock us at 6 if Chubb is gone and draft Edmunds.

[BlueShoe]

14 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

I probably posted in that topic too lol. But I’m not sure what Ballard has in store. You can’t play a 4-3 zone without speedy LBs who can cover. And the MLB position specifically is very important in a Tampa-2

 

We’ve got the draft capital to draft multiple LBs now, but we need to get one of Edmunds, Vander-Esch, or Evans to play MLB. I have this feeling that Ballard might shock us at 6 if Chubb is gone and draft Edmunds.

 

It might not be a board favorite move, but I would not be surprised to see us draft 2 off-ball linebackers with our top 5 picks. 

 

The draft is loaded with off-ball linebackers and that’s what we need. 

[azcolt]

4 hours ago, BlueShoe said:

 

We were in position to take a new franchise quarterback, and we decided to move back. If any team needs a quarterback then this is certainly the draft to get one. 

 

In my opinion, Ballard moving back explained it enough for me. 

Until Luck is firing footballs, it's not enough for me. Until then, I think it's clear Ballard took a gamble and the college qb pool for next year doesn't look very good. So he'd better be right.

[lollygagger8]

Person > Vujfootsmasher 

[BlueShoe]

16 minutes ago, azcolt said:

Until Luck is firing footballs, it's not enough for me. Until then, I think it's clear Ballard took a gamble and the college qb pool for next year doesn't look very good. So he'd better be right.

 

I believe if Ballard had any inclination of Luck not returning this season, then he would have stayed and drafted a quarterback. 

 

That would be 2 years, and we’d have to seriously consider moving on. 

 

Ballard’s actions are enough for me to believe it’s not the case. 

 

I agree that it will be nice to see Luck firing footballs again.  

[TheRustonRifle#7]

You have Simon as a DE, why not SSLB?  Just asking, nothing more than to pick your brain...I have him at SSLB.

 

Anderson, is he healthy?  The guy played a half a season as a rookie and, well.....Ridgeway gets my nod, for now.  

 

Just my opinions...I build homes for a living, not NFL teams.

[BlueShoe]

3 minutes ago, TheRustonRifle#7 said:

You have Simon as a DE, why not SSLB?  Just asking, nothing more than to pick your brain...I have him at SSLB.

 

Anderson, is he healthy?  The guy played a half a season as a rookie and, well.....Ridgeway gets my nod, for now.  

 

Just my opinions...I build homes for a living, not NFL teams.

 

Good questions. 

 

It’s always possible that Simon could move to SAM. I don’t think playing in coverage is his strength though. I think he will line up at DE, but we’ll see. It’s possible he could play a mixture. 

 

I think if Anderson is healthy then he is more disruptive than Ridgeway. I think we could see a good healthy mix of both. 

[TheRustonRifle#7]

8 minutes ago, BlueShoe said:

 

Good questions. 

 

It’s always possible that Simon could move to SAM. I don’t think playing in coverage is his strength though. I think he will line up at DE, but we’ll see. It’s possible he could play a mixture. 

 

I think if Anderson is healthy then he is more disruptive than Ridgeway. I think we could see a good healthy mix of both. 

Thank you for your insight my Friend!

[Hoose]

7 hours ago, BlueShoe said:

 

It might not be a board favorite move, but I would not be surprised to see us draft 2 off-ball linebackers with our top 5 picks. 

 

The draft is loaded with off-ball linebackers and that’s what we need. 

I can see that too. Especially if the Colts trade back again. 

[Defjamz26]

11 hours ago, BlueShoe said:

 

It might not be a board favorite move, but I would not be surprised to see us draft 2 off-ball linebackers with our top 5 picks. 

 

The draft is loaded with off-ball linebackers and that’s what we need. 

I’ll be cheering if that happens

[OLD FAN MAN]

ballard said he wants  to build though the draft. so far this season he has signed low tier free agents. we are sitting good in the draft because we are a bad team. draft picks most times take a few years to be starters, how many losing seasons will we have to wait for ballard to make the team competive again, ballards way is a slow process we must learn to be patient

[BlueShoe]

12 hours ago, OLD FAN MAN said:

ballard said he wants  to build though the draft. so far this season he has signed low tier free agents. we are sitting good in the draft because we are a bad team. draft picks most times take a few years to be starters, how many losing seasons will we have to wait for ballard to make the team competive again, ballards way is a slow process we must learn to be patient

 

I believe that a healthy Luck keeps us from having a losing season. What “extra” we do to improve the team, just adds to the win column. 

 

With a completely healthy Luck, I see our wins anywhere from 8-12. 

 

If Luck stays stuck in “light” practice mode for most of the offseason (which I don’t think will be the case) then we will likely dip under 500. 

 

In my mind, Andrew Luck is that talented. 

[AZColt11]

The roster needs a LOT of work, I don't think many can question this.  However, I LOVE the way Ballard is building it.  No, it is not the "easy" way.  Fans are fans and we all want success right away.  But he is doing this anti-Grigson.  He is building this not only to win a title, but possibly multiple titles.  He knows Brady is going to exit soon.  NE has been the mainstay in the AFC and they could take a step back, or at least come back to the pack a little.  So he's going after younger and more affordable talent and relying on the draft to be the "frame" of the house until we get to the point where we are close enough to contending, and THEN I think you will see him take some shots at high-level FA's.  What's the point of doing that now?  No, he's doing it right.  Build slowly and steadily, then strike when you are close.  This is the way to build for long-term success.  And then when Luck is done it won't be such a big drop-off.  We'll already have a good roster in place.  If Luck left now?  This team wouldn't stand a chance.

[joecolts]

On 3/24/2018 at 2:58 PM, CR91 said:

Tremendous job. I know you probably spent a lot of time on this. Just one  point I wanna make. I think for now the guards are kinda set with mewhort and slauson, but doesn't mean we won't take nelson. Honestly this entire draft Imo comes down to what the giants do at 2. If they take a QB, then we have a chance at chubb, Barkley, or Nelson. If they take Chubb or Barkley then both will be off the board after 4 with a chance the broncos take Nelson at 5 if they feel contempt with keenum leaving us in a bind. 

Agree completely with the original post and this spot on follow up.  Well done, thought out and articulate.  Really shines a good light and view of the roster and how the Giants pick will have a tremendous affect on which path we take in filling gaps in the roster.  If Chubb, Nelson and Barkley are gone, I pray that the Bills see an opportunity for a chance at a QB with our loss at 1 of the 3 and try moving up to 6, offering 12&22.  We would then have 12, 22, 36, 27 & 49!  Potentially 5 holes filled!

 

Great post!

[joecolts]

On 3/28/2018 at 9:09 PM, AZColt11 said:

The roster needs a LOT of work, I don't think many can question this.  However, I LOVE the way Ballard is building it.  No, it is not the "easy" way.  Fans are fans and we all want success right away.  But he is doing this anti-Grigson.  He is building this not only to win a title, but possibly multiple titles.  He knows Brady is going to exit soon.  NE has been the mainstay in the AFC and they could take a step back, or at least come back to the pack a little.  So he's going after younger and more affordable talent and relying on the draft to be the "frame" of the house until we get to the point where we are close enough to contending, and THEN I think you will see him take some shots at high-level FA's.  What's the point of doing that now?  No, he's doing it right.  Build slowly and steadily, then strike when you are close.  This is the way to build for long-term success.  And then when Luck is done it won't be such a big drop-off.  We'll already have a good roster in place.  If Luck left now?  This team wouldn't stand a chance.

Ballard potentially set his legacy in motion by the trade from 3 to 6.  I also love his vision and the way he’s building this team and that trade jumpstarted and will potentially speed up that process.  For the first time in several years, I’m excited about the GM spot being in wise hands.  

[Carlos Danger]

Good topic and analysis...

 

I will say that I think that there are some really intriguing size/weight profiles among the lesser known WRs on the roster... There could be a viable or even a good player in there somewhere...

 

I like Rogers and Grant as reliable options for Luck, but both are probably more #3 type guys... If one of those tall guys on futures contracts can ball, I don't really hate the group, though... At least not as bad as some other positions (like LB).

[crazycolt1]

On ‎3‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 3:29 AM, Coltsfan1955 said:

A little premature to analyze a depth chart before the draft, OTS’s, & training camp.  We may release guys you’ve penciled in as starters & 4-5 draftees may start.  We may pick up some other teams’ cutdowns.  My guess is you’ve listed maybe 50% of the final 53.  It did indicate areas of concern, but we aren’t coaches who will see who fits which positions, etc.  

I guess you completely overlooked the title of the thread.

I thought it was pretty clear myself.

[crazycolt1]

40 minutes ago, Carlos Danger said:

Good topic and analysis...

 

I will say that I think that there are some really intriguing size/weight profiles among the lesser known WRs on the roster... There could be a viable or even a good player in there somewhere...

 

I like Rogers and Grant as reliable options for Luck, but both are probably more #3 type guys... If one of those tall guys on futures contracts can ball, I don't really hate the group, though... At least not as bad as some other positions (like LB).

Yeah, I listed the 9 WRs on the roster who are not talked about and there very well could be a couple of players who could contribute. They were signed for a reason I would think. There is a couple of 2 year players and 1 4 year player.

Should be an interesting camp and pre season for sure.