Relative Athletic Scores(RAS) for all of the Colts picks

[stitches]

 

 

@Scott Pennock asked for a thread with all of those in one place, so here it is. 

 

The Colts got above average athletes in every single pick and they got elite athletes with about half their picks. 

[akcolt]

That's impressive and encouraging particularly Braden Smith. I can't wait to see these guys hit the field. 

[Scott Pennock]

Thank you @stitches!!!!

[IndyD4U]

I'm telling you, Smith and Nelson have solidified our line for the next 10 years. Smith is a beast and we all know what we got in Nelson 

 

Finally 12 will stay upright and we'll have running lanes 

[Trueman]

3 minutes ago, IndyD4U said:

I'm telling you, Smith and Nelson have solidified our line for the next 10 years. Smith is a beast and we all know what we got in Nelson 

 

Finally 12 will stay upright and we'll have running lanes 

 

The more I learn about Smith, the more I like. If he develops into what Ballard and co. think he can , then not only is the interior of our line better , but we actually have an identity.

 

Nelson and Smith are going to change our “soft” label very quickly.

[TouchdownMonkey]

9 minutes ago, Trueman said:

 

The more I learn about Smith, the more I like. If he develops into what Ballard and co. think he can , then not only is the interior of our line better , but we actually have an identity.

 

Nelson and Smith are going to change our “soft” label very quickly.

It's nice to think about the possibiliies of our inside oline, Nelson Kelly Smith. Let's pray this is the year A.Costanzo gets his crap together and gets back to the player he once was. I'm really scared about defense though, big ???'s with the front 7. Hopefully Hooker and Geathers are back to full health. We need Wilson to grow into #1 starting CB quick, after losing Melvin. We need our offense to be clicking on all cylinders to be competitive. I hope Luck has the Manning ability to make recievers and TEs better because we need it. Outside of TY there is no proven startering WRs on our team.

[richard pallo]

3 minutes ago, TouchdownMonkey said:

It's nice to think about the possibiliies of our inside three Nelson Kelly Smith. Let's pray this is the year A.Costanzo gets his crap together and gets back to the player he once was. I'm really scared about deense though big ???s with front 7. Hopefully Hooker and Geathers are back to full health. We need Wilson to grow into #1 starting CB quick, after losing Melvin. We need our offense to be clicking on all cylinders to be competitive. I hope Luck has the Manning ability to make recievers and TEs better because se need it. Outside of TY there is no proven starters on our team.

In case you missed it Ballard said Costanzo played the best football of his career last year.  He thought he had a great season. 

[TouchdownMonkey]

2 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

In case you missed it Ballard said Costanzo played the best football of his career last year.  He thought he had a great season. 

That's scary because Costanzo got beat quite often last year. Quick twitch players were owning him.

[WarGhost21]

Nelson and Smith are going to finally give Kelly some high quality help surrounding him, and I think 1 or 2 of the three will be Pro Bowlers within a couple of years! Now we just need to get some high quality tackles in next draft and we will have turned a weak point into one of our strongest points!

[TouchdownMonkey]

2 minutes ago, TouchdownMonkey said:

That's scary because Costanzo got beat quite often last year. Quick twitch players were owning him.

Maybe I'm being critical of his play because I was so disappointed in his down year and overacted to his bad plays. The thing with oline players is the never get credit when doing good you just seem to notice when they mess up. PFF also says he had good year in 2017.

[chad72]

Now we will find out if those athletes are "football players", it is now up to the coaches. 

[throwing BBZ]

9 minutes ago, TouchdownMonkey said:

Maybe I'm being critical of his play because I was so disappointed in his down year and overacted to his bad plays. The thing with oline players is the never get credit when doing good you just seem to notice when they mess up. PFF also says he had good year in 2017.

 

 No one has been more critical of Castonzo than i have from his 1st year on.
 He was solid last season playing beside pitiful Vuj.
He should have his best years ahead of him playing beside Nelson, especially with Reichs offense.

[TheRustonRifle#7]

3 minutes ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

 No one has been more critical of Castonzo than i have from his 1st year on.
 He was solid last season playing beside pitiful Vuj.
He should have his best years ahead of him playing beside Nelson, especially with Reichs offense.

I couldn't agree more and I also was happy with Castonzo's progress lat year.

[sreeb2deeni]

In addition to the athleticism, the grit and toughness our picks show should be a monumental step in turning around the "soft label" we once earned and can never seem to shake.

 

Creeping back into contention...

 

Can't wait for Blue Nation to be on top again. 

[Smonroe]

49 minutes ago, Trueman said:

 

The more I learn about Smith, the more I like. If he develops into what Ballard and co. think he can , then not only is the interior of our line better , but we actually have an identity.

 

Nelson and Smith are going to change our “soft” label very quickly.

 

Love the picks and don’t mean to throw the perverbial wet blanket...

 

Smith was not known for his pass protection skills, and if Nelson had one weak part of his game, it was there also.  

 

Not saying those two won’t be good in protection, just that the jury is still out on them.  Let’s not crown them just yet.   I do think they’ll both be road graders and our run game is going to vastly improve. A lot less 2nd and 9s.  

[throwing BBZ]

24 minutes ago, chad72 said:

Now we will find out if those athletes are "football players", it is now up to the coaches. 

 

 Did Ballard and his scout team identify the best combination they could find of high character,
intelligent, work out warrior, football junky, War Daddies?
 I believe he and his team are Pleased with their draft.
And we can agree, let's believe for now, we have a very good coaching staff.

[Trueman]

15 minutes ago, Smonroe said:

 

Love the picks and don’t mean to throw the perverbial wet blanket...

 

Smith was not known for his pass protection skills, and if Nelson had one weak part of his game, it was there also.  

 

Not saying those two won’t be good in protection, just that the jury is still out on them.  Let’s not crown them just yet.   I do think they’ll both be road graders and our run game is going to vastly improve. A lot less 2nd and 9s.  

 

Nelson is as clean as it gets. I don’t mind people getting excited about him.

 

I’m not crowning anyone - as you can see, I provided a qualifier:  “if he develops”.

 

I understand Smith isn’t a guaranteed  starter or even a NFL’er , but if he does indeed ‘hit’ as a pick , then his qualities would quickly create an entirely different look to our interior line with Nelson.

 

 

[stitches]

51 minutes ago, TouchdownMonkey said:

That's scary because Costanzo got beat quite often last year. Quick twitch players were owning him.

This is not even remotely true. He had one tough matchup against Chandler Jones in the Arizona game where he got beat several times badly but he was tremendous for the rest of the year. He had one of his best seasons for the Colts and played at close to pro-bowl level. He was ranked as the 10th best tackle in the league by PFF. This includes both left and right tackles.

 

Now AC is not a perfect tackle by any means and he's still better run blocker than pass-protector, but I have no idea where those narratives that he's been bad come from. They have nothing to do with reality. People just see our O-line being horrible and they project all its problems on the players they know - the best ones, instead of on the scrubs taken off the street that surround them and that make all the mistakes on the line. This is similar to how people say Hilton is trash because they don't actually watch what's happening on the odd 2 catches 25 yards game... they don't see how many times he gets open but the ball doesn't get there because either Brissett doesn't see him or the pocket collapses because of the bad O-line and the throw cannot be made, etc. 

 

The problem with this team are NOT the best players on the team. It's the scrubs that surround them. It's the linebackers that cannot track a RB or a TE to save their lives, it's the pass rushers that cannot create any pressure whatsoever, it's the Clarks and Vujnovic's of the world who get destroyed every single week.... Fix the bottom of the roster, the player that if they didn't play for us would be on the street first before you worry about the top 5 player on the roster. 

[Stephen]

12 minutes ago, Trueman said:

 

Nelson is as clean as it gets. I don’t mind people getting excited about him.

 

I’m not crowning anyone - as you can see, I provided a qualifier:  “if he develops”.

 

I understand Smith isn’t a guaranteed  starter or even a NFL’er , but if he does indeed ‘hit’ as a pick , then his qualities would quickly create an entirely different look to our interior line with Nelson.

 

 

Smith will start. That other guy whos name starts with a V who we must not speak of should be cut

[Defjamz26]

2 hours ago, Stephen said:

Smith will start. That other guy whos name starts with a V who we must not speak of should be cut

Yeah the addition of Nelson and Smith means we’ll never have to see Vuj play another snap. 

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

3 hours ago, TouchdownMonkey said:

That's scary because Costanzo got beat quite often last year. Quick twitch players were owning him.

Costanzo is very good hes the least of our worries. 

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

2 hours ago, stitches said:

This is not even remotely true. He had one tough matchup against Chandler Jones in the Arizona game where he got beat several times badly but he was tremendous for the rest of the year. He had one of his best seasons for the Colts and played at close to pro-bowl level. He was ranked as the 10th best tackle in the league by PFF. This includes both left and right tackles.

 

Now AC is not a perfect tackle by any means and he's still better run blocker than pass-protector, but I have no idea where those narratives that he's been bad come from. They have nothing to do with reality. People just see our O-line being horrible and they project all its problems on the players they know - the best ones, instead of on the scrubs taken off the street that surround them and that make all the mistakes on the line. This is similar to how people say Hilton is trash because they don't actually watch what's happening on the odd 2 catches 25 yards game... they don't see how many times he gets open but the ball doesn't get there because either Brissett doesn't see him or the pocket collapses because of the bad O-line and the throw cannot be made, etc. 

 

The problem with this team are NOT the best players on the team. It's the scrubs that surround them. It's the linebackers that cannot track a RB or a TE to save their lives, it's the pass rushers that cannot create any pressure whatsoever, it's the Clarks and Vujnovic's of the world who get destroyed every single week.... Fix the bottom of the roster, the player that if they didn't play for us would be on the street first before you worry about the top 5 player on the roster. 

Or Brissett holds the ball to long which happens OFTEN!!

[Legend of Luck]

3 hours ago, TouchdownMonkey said:

That's scary because Costanzo got beat quite often last year. Quick twitch players were owning him.

 

Ballard acknowledged that he struggled early on, but I don't believe he allowed a sack in the final 8 games. (Or something like that, I read the stat a while ago)

[Legend of Luck]

4 minutes ago, Horse Shoe Heaven said:

Or Brissett holds the ball to long which happens OFTEN!!

 

Brissett held the ball longer than any qb in the league. Reich will fix that, though.

[dodsworth]

Leanards highlight tape looks unimpressive and now this chart. I just don't see what the

drafting personnel see in this guy to use a 2nd round pick.

[NewColtsFan]

3 hours ago, TouchdownMonkey said:

That's scary because Costanzo got beat quite often last year. Quick twitch players were owning him.

 

Chris Ballard and PFF say one thing...  Castonzo enjoyed his best year...

 

Touchdown Monkey says the exact opposite....

 

Who do you think people here are going to believe?

[Luck 4 president]

1 hour ago, dodsworth said:

Leanards highlight tape looks unimpressive and now this chart. I just don't see what the

drafting personnel see in this guy to use a 2nd round pick.

After listening to Ballard talk about our 2nd round picks it sounds like he reached for needs and didn’t go with BPA.

[Boiler_Colt]

3 hours ago, dodsworth said:

Leanards highlight tape looks unimpressive and now this chart. I just don't see what the

drafting personnel see in this guy to use a 2nd round pick.

 

He was rated as the #5 4-3 linebacker and a 2nd rounder by almost  everybody. NFL Network had been touting him as a 2nd round steal for months. Got Telvin Smith comps by Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks. So its not really too much of a shock. He's a guy I wanted in round 2 if we didnt get Roquan.

[Scott Pennock]

5 hours ago, dodsworth said:

Leanards highlight tape looks unimpressive and now this chart. I just don't see what the

drafting personnel see in this guy to use a 2nd round pick.

Almost every draft publication had him rated right after Smith, Edmonds and LVE.....that's a lot of folks with better trained eyes than ours that saw a lot of good in him!

[Jesse Lafantaisie]

9 hours ago, richard pallo said:

In case you missed it Ballard said Costanzo played the best football of his career last year.  He thought he had a great season. 

As bad as Costanzo might be hes still good for #10 Tackle in the NFL that's how bad the NFL is at a whole at that position right now. In 2016 he had a terrible year and was 20th out of all tackles.

 

Source: https://www.profootballfocus.com/nfl/players/anthony-castonzo/6174

[Jesse Lafantaisie]

5 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Chris Ballard and PFF say one thing...  Castonzo enjoyed his best year...

 

Touchdown Monkey says the exact opposite....

 

Who do you think people here are going to believe?

2015 was his best year. Also as of Dec 13, 2017 he was ranked #17 out of all offensive linemen. At this point he was 8th best tackle finished the season as 10th best. Also he was #1 at this point in run blocking not sure what he finished but yeah hes def a top 5 run blocking tackle in the league right now.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-top-25-offensive-linemen-of-the-2017-nfl-season

[Surge89]

11 hours ago, stitches said:

 

The Colts got above average athletes in every single pick and they got elite athletes with about half their picks. 

 

So bud what was your opinion of this draft by Ballard?  I appreciate your insight during the draft process and you seem to watch just as much of these kids as I do so I'd like to know your opinion. Maybe a breakdown by pick?

[Jesse Lafantaisie]

3 hours ago, Luck 4 president said:

After listening to Ballard talk about our 2nd round picks it sounds like he reached for needs and didn’t go with BPA.

I was expecting Josh Jackson not sure why he didn't draft him. Jabaal Sheard and John Simon both moving to DE and he drafted 2 DE he didn't really reach for needs as Sheard and Simon could of handle this for this season 1 DE would've been ok. He more decided his major holes were fixed and started to do his philosophy of building in the trenches first. I think we could've used a CB first.

[Shive]

10 hours ago, IndyD4U said:

I'm telling you, Smith and Nelson have solidified our line for the next 10 years. Smith is a beast and we all know what we got in Nelson 

 

Finally 12 will stay upright and we'll have running lanes 

Those running lanes will change our offense completely. We've had a terrible interior OL for so long that it seemed it was so few and far between that we'd actually get good runs between the tackles.

 

9 hours ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

 No one has been more critical of Castonzo than i have from his 1st year on.
 He was solid last season playing beside pitiful Vuj.
He should have his best years ahead of him playing beside Nelson, especially with Reichs offense.

On the OL, the guy next to you affects your level of play more than most other things. The fact that AC had the year he did with such a bad G next to him is amazing. I think he's finally hit his prime and hopefully having Nelson or Smith next to him will help him continue to play at such a high level.

[Cynjin]

6 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Chris Ballard and PFF say one thing...  Castonzo enjoyed his best year...

 

Touchdown Monkey says the exact opposite....

 

Who do you think people here are going to believe?

 

I prefer the Trunk Monkey to the Touchdown Monkey.

 

 

[dodsworth]

2 hours ago, Scott Pennock said:

Almost every draft publication had him rated right after Smith, Edmonds and LVE.....that's a lot of folks with better trained eyes than ours that saw a lot of good in him!

 

4 hours ago, Boiler_Colt said:

 

He was rated as the #5 4-3 linebacker and a 2nd rounder by almost  everybody. NFL Network had been touting him as a 2nd round steal for months. Got Telvin Smith comps by Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks. So its not really too much of a shock. He's a guy I wanted in round 2 if we didnt get Roquan.

His highlight tapes look worse than our 10th and 11th picks at linebacker, but I guess he did

well in the senior bowl which was the reason he was picked so high.

[Boiler_Colt]

8 minutes ago, dodsworth said:

 

His highlight tapes look worse than our 10th and 11th picks at linebacker, but I guess he did

well in the senior bowl which was the reason he was picked so high.

Highlight tapes are meaningless to actual scouts

[stitches]

5 hours ago, Surge89 said:

 

So bud what was your opinion of this draft by Ballard?  I appreciate your insight during the draft process and you seem to watch just as much of these kids as I do so I'd like to know your opinion. Maybe a breakdown by pick?

There was a thread for draft grades. I gave pick by pick grades there.

 

I'm gonna start with a disclaimer - if you are going to trust someone's evaluation, definitely trust Ballard and his team's before you trust me or anybody on a message board. 

 

Day 1 was a no-brainer - we got one of the best players in the draft at a position of need. I didn't love day 2 of the draft and that's where the main capital of picks was spent. I had first round graded players available throughout the round, even at 64 and instead we got a 3d round graded guard and a 4th round DE. I like Darius Leonard more than most and he was my best available LB, so I don't mind the pick. Turay is a very interesting prospect with tons of potential to develop into a great passrusher. He hasn't played a ton of football(started playing as a senior in high school) and his development has been stunted by injuries but even with that he's not as raw technically as people might think. He flashes some very nice hand usage for example and has amazing bend around the edge. It will be more about working on consistency and finishing with added strength with him. i liked our 3d round picks(the ones I've watched) I think we got them at a good pricepoint in the draft. We added nice weapons for Luck and Reich and I expect Hines and both receivers to be in the rotation if they make the team... and if Luck is healthy I expect the offense to be much better than last year. Hell, scratch that... assuming relatively normal health for the roster, I expect the offense to be top 10 in the league. 

 

This roster still has horrible depth and even high end talent on defense though. The LB core is still horrendous. I have no idea how we are going to play games with the talent we have there and the depth at CB is worrisome. Any injury there spells serious troubles. The interior of the defense will be a big question mark too since apart from Woods, no one else has really ever gotten the amount of snaps they will get this year(Stewart, Ridgeway).

[lance_m8]

AC must be hyped not having to have Vuj next to him instead having Big Q 

[Luck 4 president]

7 hours ago, Jesse Lafantaisie said:

I was expecting Josh Jackson not sure why he didn't draft him. Jabaal Sheard and John Simon both moving to DE and he drafted 2 DE he didn't really reach for needs as Sheard and Simon could of handle this for this season 1 DE would've been ok. He more decided his major holes were fixed and started to do his philosophy of building in the trenches first. I think we could've used a CB first.

Since we are running a new system Ballard wanted guys that fit the system not necessarily BPA. We already got rid of Hankins and Anderson because they didn’t fit the new system, and lots think Simon doesn’t fit it as well. He wants 7-8 guys rotating along the DL so yes, according to him those were needs, and most would agree not BPAs. He said in the interview that they saw a lot of guards go right before our 2nd pick and viewed Smith as the last starting caliber guard. He picked him not because he was BPA but because Ballard needed 2 starting OL from this draft and couldn’t risk Smith being taken before our next pick.