DougDew

I think he wants a mobile-ish QB like Wentz but settled for statues Rivers and Ryan. If he was not leading the charge for Young, he may not have many plays that he thinks are a good fit for him. Frank has had a problem molding plays to the QBs strengths, I agree, but part of the problem is that he hasn't had QBs that have very many strengths. Young has few strengths being a two game rookie. Its odd that Frank took out Young on sneaks and put in Dalton. He must see something about Young (physicality?) that is limiting....which may be either wise or off-base.

I agree. I would say a big commonalty is the play of the QB. Our last two QBs are now out of the NFL....shows the quality there. I do think Frank's coaching system is outdated, it happens to coaches, but I also believe that part of the problem is CAR's QB too. The system seems to work with only a certain type/quality of QB. And needs two dog WRs, something Frank never had here and doesn't have at CAR. It is odd that the lack of talent on the offensive side of the ball is common to what we had here too.

I was not talking about Frank's body of work as a play caller here in IND as witnessed by us over 5 seasons, if that's what drove your response. I'm talking about two games in CAR from the perspective of CAR fans who blame play calling but are ignorant about IND.....unless they read internet comments. With a bad oline and receivers....acknowledged by Simms...and the possibility that Young was overrated as a pro prospect coming out of college....its hard to say that play calling is the reason the CAR offense is bad over the first two games. JMO.

Watching that video, Simms basically says that Young isn't passing the eye test. And he says that Thielen is their #1WR when he would be #3 on most good teams. I think the fans drilling right past those issues and complaining about Frank's play calling being the problem after two games is directly caused by the momentum gained by internet forums. I agree about snap to throw also being a function of having nowhere to throw the ball, which could be because of scheme as well as talent.

He's saying that trading up for a guy from 9 to 1 puts more pressure and scrutiny on a player than a player who was simply selected number 1 by a team already having that pick. To the extent that any number 1 pick is viewed as the savior of the franchise, trading up from 9 makes that pressure worse.

The topic I quoted Moose about was not about Ballard being a good GM or not, but if he values RASs and Traits more than other GMs. IMO, this is fairly simple. If the GM himself says that he would draft a player at 53, he's basically saying that he thinks the player won't be around for the next pick...or else he would have targeted the player for pick 73. As it played out, Ballard would have drafted Woods at 53 when no other GM drafted him before 73. That seems like a GM who valued something about Woods a lot more than other GMs did. But thinks other GMs see it his way too. "Competing with himself" means that he senses competition for a RAS player that isn't there. To your topic though, I'm not aware of any group that has enough stature to evaluate GMs to support how widely regarded Ballard is or is not. But that's not really Moose's point here. With trade downs and natural picks, Ballard has had at least 10 picks in the top 50 the past 7 drafts. Of those (10?) top 50 picks, he's picked 3 skilled positions...one of them a RB and one AR this past draft, and used a 4th on Wentz. Of the 10 picks in the top 50, he's used only one on a receiver...Pittman, which gets to the point of our lack of great success at the position. Yes, I agree. He is valuing RAS and Traits over production at the college level, and relies upon the coaching staff to turn those physical traits into productive NFL football players. I believe that he relies on this more than other GMs, who want their college players to come to the NFL already coached up to some level of higher production than Ballard's players. In about 7 seasons, it hasn't really been that successful of a formula, IMO. And as far as receivers, I can't say that Ballard's picks are more RASsy or Traitsy than any other GMs picks. It seems almost like he thinks all positions are role players placed into the offense for certain situations (except QB), and rejects the idea that skilled positions can be three down stars.

Which is probably why SS turned down attention from CAR. He's got a head start on things by coaching players Reich just coached. Not that SS was holding out for the Colts job, but it always felt to me like SS to the Colts was going to happen the moment Frank was fired. There wasn't much suspense with that coaching search for me.

Perhaps since Bryce had the reputation of being the most NFL ready, Frank didn't scale back the play book as much as other coaches and is asking him to do too much. I've seen a stat that shows that he has the most time to throw than the others...but having watched the games, it seems like he's having to extend the play a lot....which adds to the snap-to-release calculation...because of Oline problems. The other rookie QBs may just be a bit better in processing when on the move than Young is at this point. Just saying that Young looks like his struggles are on him more than play calling...or else he is being asked to run the offense like a veteran because of his pre-draft evaluations.. As far as CAR fans asking about who will call plays, that's probably driven by attachment to Reddit forums and such, because no way would anybody make a play calling connection after only two games without already having some bias built into what they are seeing.

From what I have seen, and I have seen both games, Young is throwing into coverage, looks indecisive, and takes sacks. Mentally just not there. It seems like its pure QB play and not play calling.

IIRC, there was a time where CAR liked them all. Seemed to rotate amongst the three. I highly doubt that CAR picks Young because Irsay said he liked him better. They have the first pick, and you would pick who you like. Maybe there is some trade down strategy that would end up luckily working out, but if CAR liked a QB over the others, you just pick him #1.

That was about the time that everybody on the planet was saying that Bryce Young was so wonderful. Remember Irsay even saying something about "that guy from Alabama is pretty good." But, yes, its an indicator. I agree with you, Stroud would seem to be Reich's preference just based on the QBs he reportedly wanted here in IND.

I don't recall making multiple posts on the subject, if even one, but apparently I have. Probably during the same convos as this one with Moose, about Ballard's attraction to RAS players. The fact that he specifically said that he would have chosen Woods at 53, to me makes it sound like he was hoping Woods fell to 73. Ballard valued Woods pretty highly and thought that Woods would be gone before Raimann. Just because Ballard thought that, doesn't mean Woods wouldn't have fallen further. Not comparing Woods' future with Benogu, but there is an element to Ballard's evaluations and draft day management that suggests he competes with himself over the value of players with high RAS's...or at least traits over demonstrated production. Which I think was the crux of @Moosejawcolt's point. And many others'.

Provding some defense here, IIRC, Pitt and Pierce don't really have elite RAS's. If Pitt does, I think it was backed up with some pretty good tape. There were not many critics of taking him pick 37 considering our needs at the time. I also think Pitt is a traditional timing route guy, either to the inside or outside, short or intermediate. And this is probably where our QB rotation has let him down since he was drafted. The RAS player I'm concerned about is Woods. IIRC, he was mainly a blocker in college who never displayed elite hands. The idea that he was viewed as a player that would be off the board before Raimann seems weird. I think Ballard even said he was willing to take Woods at 53, but went with AP because AP was the WR. I think AP is what we expected him to be at this point. Its only been a season and two games for a kid that had limited route tree in college.

KC apparently just changed the Mohomes contract and gave him more money. Teams recognize players who are not compensated to their level of impact....and do it quite often. At page 164, I'll repeat what I said before. I think JT has shown enough of being a TD maker than he deserves some level of guaranteed money. I don't know what that level is, but the Colts not recognizing that back in July ...and simply having him play out the contract and at least not OFFERING to guarantee the rather paltry $4.3M this season.....looks chinsy to me. I don't know if JT would have settled for that back in July....before the NFLPA meeting, but the Colts not ever offering something comes off as trying to make a player risk his future career in order to avoid paying him $4.3M if something happens. The same team who never thought not to pay Luck $125M when he walked away from them. BTW, Brock Purdy makes something like $667K, which is a joke. SF thinks so highly of Purdy that they let go of his two competitors...Lance and JG. I assume SF will OFFER to correct Purdy's compensation at some point this season.

That could be coming. The pundits/media were very much hyping Bryce Young during the draft season...maybe even the GM of CAR. Ignoring some physical shortcomings to imply that some other metric he possessed overcame them. The breakdowns offered by some on this forum told us that Young has neither the strongest arm, fastest foot speed, elite elusiveness, not even elite arm accuracy, etc to overcome other shortcomings. It centered around decision making, leadership, and production. Neither Brock Purdy or Stetson Bennet were judged by these criteria. The point being is that once a narrative is set, the waves either take the player to the over hyped world or to the ignore world. Young may be fine, but if he struggles, look for the pundits/GM to latch on to something other than themselves getting it wrong.

It did not look any worse than Ogletree's the previous week, no one noticed. No effect on the field, and AR came back the next series, but didn't return the series after that. Nothing like Tua, not even close.

If we're going to run AR wide to the outside, and generally throw less, then we will need WR(s) that block on the outside, and generally catch/targeted less.

Thanks guys. But if its just symptoms, he can probably play next week if they clear quickly enough.

What it an actual concussion or simply concussion protocol and precautionary. How do they know its an actual concussion without doing a CT scan?

I agree with this. I will add: I'd always love to have a RB that can outrun the D over 90 yards. But, I'd rather have a RB who was very good blocker and pass catcher but might get caught from behind after 30/40 yards.

I've never had that happen before, nor can I figure out how it happened. LOL.

I think when Ballard said that we'll wait and see, I think he meant that. That doesn't sound like a GM saying that they intend to pay a player at the end of the year. If JT shows more workout tape of him running routes...that's a good step. If he can show another tape of him pass blocking a charging player, that's another step. So yes, it could very well turn out that SS wants JT to be his lead RB. And the question was never really about whether or not SS wanted him as his lead RB. He may very well have wanted him to be. Its being the lead RB at the price everybody thinks JT will demand...given the things he does at a high priced level, and things he may not do as well as other RBs. Right. Necessity being that salary cap thing, and the need to spend money at other positions. Edit @csmopar. Oops, I somehow quoted you instead of Richard.

I think the difference is that the Colts have no intention of paying a RB top money in SSs offense. They may pay Pitt if he plays like a top WR. And both players know this, so they are taking different approaches. If JT produces tape this year that questions his ability to play elite in a modern NFL offense, it will compete with his stellar 2021 season that he wants to be known for. OTOH, Pittman is not in that position since he has never had an elite season.

I'm not following or getting into y'alls debate. I just answered his question. BTW, that transfer from Georgia Tech, Jeff Sims, looks brutal.

To make their position sound better. LOL.