[Castonzo May Not Start Due To Lockout says National Football Post]

I can't help but feel it won't be that big an issue. Yeah, the coaches won't get to Castonzo, but Peyton will and probably has. I'm sure Peyton knows all of the blocking schemes the O-line uses and will be able to teach Castonzo.

Manning might be the closest thing to a coach on the field and may know the offense inside-out but at the end of the day, he's a QB, not a position coach and will not be able to teach technique or correct errors in fundamentals - all he can do is teach the offense from a schematic point of view.

Working with the best QB in the world is no substitute for having time with dedicated position coaches who can review film with you and point out mistakes and coach em up

Having said that, if there's one consolation, then it's the fact that linemen are usually a position that can best make an immediate impact as rookies

[James Harrison in a tells Big Ben, stop thinking u are Peyton Manning, that's 1 reason we lost the SB 45]

Wow, talk about throwing a rock at the company car

[Free Agent Cornerback Market Values Colts can Target]

If anything, Cover 2 is the sort of D that DOESN'T put a strong premium on individually talented CBs

When our CBs are healthy I think we have great starters that don't require upgrading: Powers, Tryon (really pleasant surprise) and Hayden. Plus we don't know what we have in Devin Thomas so who knows

But CB should be among the last of our needs right now IMO if we were to address any needs in FA

[Break Out Colts]

Please, please, PLEASE be Garcon who has the breakout year ...god that'd be such an ideal scenario

Hope Frenchie is spending plenty of quality time this off-season with a Jugs machine

[How do you feel about the receiving corps?]

we are dope if no one gets injured. I was honestly amazed that we won the division last year. a testament to the guy under center.

Yeah me too but I think we can also thank luck (actually that's debatable because if luck was on our side we wouldn't have been killed by injuries) for the Titans, Jags and Texans all imploding. I actually thought the Texans were going to win it all last year because for the first part of the season they were showing signs of not being the same ole' Texans, winning close games, coming back several times ...but that all gave way to ...the same ole' Texans.

[How do you feel about the receiving corps?]

Honestly, I'm a little worried - yes we have far more glaring needs on the team other than WR, but looking at the WR position in isolation, how do you feel about what we have on the roster?

Can someone confirm whether or not Reggie was playing through injury last year at some point onward or if he was fine? Because last year, he was a shadow of himself at times despite recording a career high in catches - he was rarely able to get open deep down the sideline against single coverage and his Y/R was a career low. I think he would experience a second-half career renaissance if he was a #2 posession-type receiver who could feast off #2 CBs if we had a legit #1 who could stretch the field

Was Garcon playing through injury last season too? I think last season was a bit of a disappointment compared to the high hopes we had for him based on his strong showing in 2009. The same issues we got infuriated with him about in 2009 were still abundant in 2010 (hands, concentration, route running) ..I'm not sure the ceiling for him is that high in terms of his potential and I don't think we'll really see him blossom into a player of the calibre of Reggie (unless he spends the entire off-season with a Jugs machine)

...he kinda reminds me of Chris Chambers ..he can excel in what he's good at but if you try to grow him into a more complete receiver and expect him to run a full range of routes, I think you'll start seeing his limitations (hope I'm wrong!). I would rather a more efficient receiver like Gonzalez in the line-up over him except he hasn't proved he can stay healthy an entire season. I still don't trust Garcon to consistently take the top off the opposing Ds.

Collie, I feel, is the brightest spot on the receiving corps and is the guy that gets all of us the most excited. Our offense is night and day without him (remember the Titans game where our first and second half offenses were completely different) and I think he is a key to us being dominant again because he completely opens up the middle of the field

Blair White is an excellent backup / bench player and that's where he ideally belongs. I guess our WRs are okay, but unless Wayne was simply playing hurt last year, I'm skeptical as to whether we have players who can consistently bring "the big play" back to our offense, especially with our garbage running game. I think next season we'll need to consider acquiring a new #1 WR

[Jeff Saturday]

I'll agree with that. But how many other games last season was he at his best? The rest of them? The breakdown in Oline protection was not his problem. He was as awesome as ever. He will shine in his last year, for a chance at one last SB at home no less. He is also Canton-bound for sure.

You're right - for the most part, he was great last year and the facts support that http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/06/14/2010-pass-blocking-efficiency-guards-and-centers/ where he is ranked #1 in pass blocking efficiency ...hope he can maintain that level for just one more year, and more importantly, hope we have a plan in place for his successor.

Going to be a sad day when #63 hangs them up ...you kinda take for granted sometimes just how long he's been here for and how big a part he's been in this team's success from the beginning

[Jeff Saturday]

I think his age is hurting him more than attending these meetings - Jeff was never a physical brute in the first place but now in the twilight years of his career, he is definitely starting to show signs of becoming a potential liability as the season wears on and his physical tools aren't what they used to be (he was really abused by Devito against the Jets) ...I hope we have someone already on the roster ready to step in for him, because god knows we sure drafted enough centers in the last few years

[A few notes on the Colts rookies]

Not trying to be a downer but every year it seems like we get excited about the prospect of our most recent draft class making an immediate impact only for it to fall somewhat short of our expectations.

I'm worried about this season because I think we're still a year away from getting back to the old predictably dominant 12-win team ...this year we have a brutal schedule and this lockout is undoubtedly hurting the development of our rookies and around the league (I remember reading scouting reports saying that Ijalana needs alot of work as a pass protector)

I think it might hurt us more because we have alot invested in these rooks to shore up one of our most glaring weaknesses last season and given important their roles are going to be with protecting Manning I shudder to think of what might happen if they made any of their inevitable rookie mistakes (I saw footage of Vladimir Ducasse almost literally get Sanchez killed repeatedly last night on a re-run of Hard Knocks)

As for Addai, I couldn't possibly see how he could be unseated if he came back given his excellence in pass-protection and as a threat out the backfield ...I feel comparing him to Carter is apples to oranges.

[Peyton over Brady]

Opposing fans see that we won 11 games and act like thats some sort of proof that we dont need Brady. What Patriots fans saw that year was different. We saw the gameplan completely change...we saw the team play to our backups strengths...and we happened to have lucked out by having one of the weakest schedules in NFL history which allowed us to win a bunch of games while still missing out on the playoffs.

I guess what Im saying is that the 'Patriots are an 11 win team without Brady while the Colts are a 3 win team without Peyton' argument needs to be thrown out. Many of you walk around and throw that line out there like it proves something...but in reality, what we're talking about is a 2008 Patriots season based on circumstance vs a yet to be seen Colts season based on speculation. And speculation can not be used in a case when you're trying to prove something. It just cant.

Brady's peers just voted him as the best player in the league. Brady just said Peyton is the best player hes seen. Thats a pretty good mutual admiration society all around if you ask me.

The whole "Patriots won 11 games with Cassel" argument is silly - no team is the same from one year to another, and that year the Patriots had a weak schedule and posted something like a 1-4 record against teams with winning records and the drop-off from a dominant 16-0 team to a scrappy 11-5 team was significant. Besides, the Colts went 6-10 under Manning, so what does it prove?

Personally I think Manning is better than Brady but not for stupid reasons like the fact the Patriots went 11-5 without Brady - one team having a better backup than another team is not a valid argument in a head-to-head comparison. I see little reason to see why Brady couldn't succeed with the Colts or any other elite QB, for that matter.

The reason I think Manning is better than Brady has more to do with his productivity, ability to make players around him better, ability to cover up weaknesses of the team (last year with an atrocious O-line, no running game, JV receivers, horrific D that gave him few offensive posessions per game) and carry the team consistently year-in year-out (look at Brees - the year he won the Superbowl he had a good D, excellent O-line with league best interior O-line and a top 5 running game ..the following season without that same running game and turnovers generated by his D he went back to the old turnover prone Brees).

I actually think the gap between Manning and Brady isn't as large as it used to be - it's hard to not acknowledge Brady as the top player heading into 2011 on the strength of last year (I think his 2010 was more impressive than his 2007 regular season due to the turnover and rebuilding) but of late, the two QBs have taken turns at being the best QB for a season (they've both won the last 4 straight MVPs) so I don't think it should mean much - obviously Brady has the hot hand right now while Manning's reputation has been taking a pounding this off-season.

On a side note, Cassel is a terrible QB - whatever numbers he posted last season were smoke and mirrors ..the number of deep balls Moss caught between 2007 and 2008 fell off substantially (yet that might've been his best year as a PRO because he easily could've tanked the season and pouted) and it still sucks with the Chiefs. Plus that O-line that looked like an impenetrable fortress around Brady in 2007 suddenly was a sieve with Cassel's awful pocket presence.