ColtStrong2013

Nick cross blocked one of them. Brown is a bigger loss on special teams than McKenzie, imo. But there is a lot of athletes on this team, so we should be fine. special teams has been boom or bust this year, it seems. Happy to see us making big time plays under a new coordinator, but we’ve had a lot of miscues and big plays/penalties given up as well.

As someone earlier said- it all depends on what Minshew wants. Maybe he doesn’t want to leave. Who knows. He’s the first domino in the offseason, imo. If the backup qb market is hot, he is likely gone and it’s hard to say what route they’ll go. Could alter a great deal of what they look to accomplish in free agency/draft.

Precedent says they will put a price pre-free agency and tell him to take his time (while they work through plan b, c, and d) and then Ballard will tell him he needs to take a good opportunity when it comes, which it undoubtedly will. im just not confident he’s back next year. It would take them putting a multi-year investment into him when they know he’s going to be their backup. Maybe they value it higher than we can imagine. But i see Ballard being more of a gambler with Richardson and using every inch of resource he can to build around him. It’s what Irsay is going to want, and I think it’s what Ballard’s going to do. We’ve not seen Chris Ballard go hard in an offseason yet. I think 2024 offseason is going to be full of moves. Some players we expect back to walk, some free agents that we wouldn’t expect to be worked hard. Trades, etc. I think they will go all but all-in on building up the roster to the vision around what he and Steichen want surrounding AR, and minshew isn’t going to be in that picture. And then again, I might totally wrong.

Ballard’s description of premium, and what they would provide is much like we’d expect it to be as he revealed them to be “A guy that we think makes an impact and a difference for our team on game day. Makes game-winning plays for us. Guys that on Monday and Tuesday, the other team is game planning.” straight from the big guy’s mouth. I wouldn’t forget his definition of premium picks after he summed up how there is 8 or so premium players in every draft. He views it as such, and everyone between roughly 10-12 (factoring qb picks and reaches that are not premium players) and upwards of 90 as 2nd tier picks… and his idea is well known, the more darts for the dart board, the better odds of hitting a bullseye. I buy it. Qb’s (and other players) that fall out of the 1st round, should be viewed as good odds to acquire a premium position asset that can be valuable down the road whether for you or as a trade. I’m not sure why more teams aren’t more aggressive to improve their qb rooms, quite frankly. Of course. Different eyes and philosophies/schemes are going to see different things. The colts have been known to have a pretty small board under Ballard because they throw so many in the trash. They value senior bowl participants, high measurables, captain grade and smart collegiate athletes. Trading down depends on the players left on your board. If there are plenty in the same grouping, you can bet he’s trading down. Hell, we might not have the pick at all if he goes the deforest Buckner route and trades it away during the Super Bowl. likewise. 🤠

Opportunities. We didn’t fare well on our last road trip. They saw a 2 point spread and decided to hammer their bets on the falcons either winning or losing by a point. Opening line was 1, which means that some of those sharp bettors likely took the colts early on which pushed it to 2 before more of them went the other way. Understand that the ones that figured this stuff out can be viewed by one sports book as a “pro or sharp” bettor, while another might view the same person as a giant cash flowing loser. I know someone that bets large amounts of money, on one site they generally lose big, and get comped for all sorts of events, rooms, etc. The other sites, they win big. They utilize the various ones to make repeated bets as part of a hedging strategy that increases their odds of winning, and winning big.

Mariota could fit. Although I wasn’t a fan of how he handled the Falcons situation/Netflix show.

… Now you have me circling back. I agree- if there is one that is available and the cost difference made sense. I don’t see Ballard and Shane going for someone else, especially if he leads us to the playoffs. That would be Ballard altering his philosophy of rewarding players that perform for the franchise.

https://bloggingdirty.com/posts/pro-bettors-causing-jaw-dropping-shift-in-colts-vs-falcons-odds-01hj78qxw2t6 Good write-up on the shift. “Pro/ sharp money” causing it.

I don’t disagree. And I don’t think they go Ehlinger/rookie. I do hope they can sign Minshew to at least 2 years, on a reasonable deal, and then go to the draft in ‘25 to replace Ehlinger, with a longterm outlook to replace Minshew. That’s the most sensible. But it all comes down to money, and how much value they place on #2 and the big picture. and at the end of the day, what I want most is to never see #2 out there for a single snap (aside from handing the ball off in a blowout win) in 2024. …qb2, not Carson Wentz.

If Sam isn’t it… then I pray that Ballard is looking closely at the qb’s coming out of college the next two drafts in the event #5 is in fact injury prone. Gardner Minshew is not the future of this team. And if AR turns out not to be either, wouldn’t you be trying to find somebody with athleticism and a high ceiling that can fill that role?

A vet qb like Nick Foles? lol. I think it’s been proven that a young qb can perform in this league at a high level. Some vet qb’s cannot. It’s not an exact science. My point is exactly that. If we cannot afford to keep Minshew, are we guaranteed to find a vet that will save much more than figuring a way to keep him? And are they more capable than Sam that is under contract, already in the system and has shown some capability to play football to this team? It’s easy to say for colts fans that we’ve already seen him, but the only ones that have seen any of his work ethic and true capability under Shane’s leadership are those that will make that determination. I honestly can’t imagine it being more limited with Sam. He can move a heck of a lot better than Minshew. He’s obviously not better, but that’s the whole conversation. There isn’t a single available vet that’s better for the savings. If AR were to go down in week 3 next season, this forum and every colts fan will say he’s a bust and we’re in trouble… except for if we invested in a day 2 pick that steps in and balls out… and maybe not even a day 2 pick. The front runner for mvp was Mr irrelevant.

I didn’t ignore your response on Sam. I understand it, and don’t necessarily disagree. I just don’t think we can use two games from a joke of a season with a coach on his way out as the reasoning. If Shane Steichen thinks he’s a suitable backup and deserving of it, I won’t be disappointed like you will be. why would any team invest in the draft on a qb? #1- good qbs fall to day 2 of the draft. If the right guy was there, specifically one that fit your scheme and complements your young starting qb, it would be worth pulling the trigger on and spending the savings on a veteran elsewhere versus overpaying for a veteran that doesn’t fit your scheme. #2, you would think hard as a gm about investing in the qb room after your #4 pick missed a promising rookie season and now has injury concerns… That’s just my $0.02. Not taking it seriously could cost Ballard his job and put this franchise back another 3-5 years or more. We will lose Moss to FA. And running back is now the last of my concerns with what we have and what we lost to injury this season. I’m pretty confident Steichen’s not concerned about the runningback room right now. day 2 are not premium picks. We won’t have a single “premium pick” this season, as we are projected around 22 range. It’s more likely that we trade back out of the first round and add more 2nd round opportunities, like has been in the past. We have had plenty (as everyone has) of day two picks that never touched the field consistently or performed. I’m not sure what point you are trying to make with that argument. joe Biden wasn’t a cheap shot. Everytime you get in an argument with someone on this forum, you put the confused response on seemingly every post they make. It was just a joke.

I kind of feel this way about Moss as well. It’s a balancing act at this point.

did you get beer thrown on you like my friends did?

I can’t trash anyone that is as cool as Minshew and helps the Colts win games. Happy he’s a Colt. Hope he balls out these last few weeks and puts a show on for the world to watch in the playoffs.

Yes. He was brought here to help develop Richardson in an offense he was familiar with. I don’t think we are tied to him at all, unless his value is a lot less than we all expect it to be. Ballard and Steichen might want him here for a while if the price is right, who knows. I just don’t think the price is going to be right. Yeah. He does a fine job running certain rpo concepts, but without the qb threat which isn’t how they are designed generally. So we are essentially tweaking his role because of his limitations with his legs. Steichen’s playbook is dramatically reduced with Minshew. I think I would prefer to see the front office spend a higher draft pick on a compatible fit backup, or at least compete with Sam for backup, and spend the money saved elsewhere. It makes sense to me as a series of moves that would complement Richardson, both in the qb room and an upgrade elsewhere on the roster. Versus just throwing money at a guy whose value increased due to a wild year at the qb position, that has limitations in your offense. I’m betting more on Steichen and Richardson than on Minshew. Simply put.

I don’t think we can use the sample size of Sam to adequately judge. That’s my opinion on Sam. I have a feeling Ballard probably thinks the same, as he sees what the offense that was changed very little from last season has done under Shane’s leadership. It all depends on what they are willing to spend and how much they want to pay a backup. Recency bias says it’s worth a lot. But I could see Minshew’s value going up a lot due to the amount of injuries at the qb position this season. I don’t see us surviving another year with our starting qb out all but a few games. That’s the old Tom Moore saying “if #18 goes down, we are **… we don’t do **.” At some point, this organization is going to have to throw their full weight behind AR, and guys like Gardner Minshew are not going to be cheap like he is this year…

I’d like to see the numbers before I questioned the overall integrity of the league. Do I think it’s possible that an occasional game is influenced by gambling? Absolutely. But I don’t think Vegas nails as often as it seems or that people make it out to.

no- I said I didn’t think they would care if it was unpopular with any of us. Only one of us said it would be… I doubt very seriously that Sam hasn’t improved and will not be a backup, or have the potential to be one once his contract is up here. …and they don’t care what any of us think. I responded to the original poster of the unpopular opinion that it wasn’t necessarily to me. It’s obviously going to be unpopular to most of this board. But that isn’t going to change the mind of anyone that is actually in the building watching how Sam works as a professional. I’d prefer to have him than some random vet that isn’t named Gardner minshew.

I doubt Ballard or Steichen cares if it’s unpopular with any of us… I think Ballard will likely have Shane’s input on if Sam is a worthy backup. Sam might not have worked out as we hoped, but that was under the previous coaching regime and really poor performing offensive line. He’s been worthy enough to the current coaching regime and Ballard to stay on the roster. If he’s a significantly cheaper option as backup, and they deem him a better option than others, then it won’t be unpopular with me. I think we can all agree, we would all be pretty upset if we found ourselves in the same situation with Richardson as we have this year… i don’t think a rookie option is going to cost a 2 or 3, not if they deem Sam worthy of the backup spot. Sam was a 6th round pick, and they could easily look to find a scheme player to fit that mold and groom from within. Sam is under contract, regardless. It all depends on Minshew. But there is little chance we bring him back on a double digit salary, unless they are unsure of #5’s readiness, which I doubt very seriously is the case. also- Minshew’s qb rating is quite a bit less than what it was when he was in Jacksonville. So it’s hard for me, and I know it would be hard for Shane and Ballard, to credit Minshew entirely with the offensive success this year. I think it’s a lot more of Shane’s work and the o-line improvement/ utilizing weapons better. I don’t see them thinking that Sam couldn’t be a viable backup, especially if it meant bringing a rookie scheme fit in behind him and at a much cheaper rate than going with a vet/minshew again. However, Ballard does have a history of rewarding players that perform and are leaders. Minshew has proven to be a winner and a leader.

There is a real possibility that we never find out. lol. Steichen slammed the door shut on getting any information from the organization. I doubt that would change if things went public from either the union or the players side, because I don’t think it would go public, at least at first. Especially if it’s a justifiable suspension.

I don’t think he’s wrong in assuming minshew could get a double digit offer. Especially depending on how the next few weeks go. And I think you are correct with Ballard’s reaction to that. Minshew might not want to go anywhere and be willing to settle for less to continue his career here, in a system that he is comfortable in, and with a team that he’s built relationships and has made fans with. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

It’s not unpopular to me. I think it would make a lot of sense to find someone in the draft that is a similar style player so that Steichen’s offense isn’t disrupted by someone limited like Minshew is. Veteran or not, it would make sense to me. The money is a whole different element.

lol, they don’t know anything other than what information comes in, which is usually an uninformed and gambling addicted public placing bets. Roster moves can swing a line, but the majority of line swinging is simply equalizing bets that have poured in.

“a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior.” Attitude can certainly be considered detrimental on a number of levels, especially if it borders threatening others safety, especially if it is repeated instances. Even a simple blowup in the locker room, training room, etc, that doesn’t actually affect anyone physically can be considered threatening and subject to suspension. All I referred to is that that kind of action might not constitute a suspension if just a single instance, but certainly would if it was a consistent pattern of behavior. “It is not enough simply to avoid being found guilty of a crime. Instead, as an employee of the NFL or a member club, you are held to a higher standard and expected to conduct yourself in a way that is responsible, promotes the values upon which the League is based, and is lawful. Persons who fail to live up to this standard of conduct are guilty of conduct detrimental and subject to discipline, even where the conduct itself does not result in conviction of a crime. Discipline may be imposed in any of the following circumstances: -Criminal offenses including, but not limited to, those involving: the use or threat of violence; domestic violence and other forms of partner abuse; theft and other property crimes; sex offenses; obstruction or resisting arrest; disorderly conduct; fraud; racketeering; and money laundering; -Criminal offenses relating to steroids and prohibited substances, or substances of abuse; -Violent or threatening behavior among employees, whether in or outside the workplace; -Possession of a gun or other weapon in any workplace setting, including but not limited to stadiums, team facilities, training camp, locker rooms, team planes, buses, parking lots, etc., or unlawful possession of a weapon outside of the workplace; -Conduct that imposes inherent danger to the safety and well being of another person; and -Conduct that undermines or puts at risk the integrity and reputation of the NFL, NFL clubs, or NFL players.” That list could include just about anything. Conduct that imposes danger to another person and undermines the reputation of the franchise and other players is such a broad painted picture that it could be a simple as a patterned history of tantrums within the four walls of the facility.