AwesomeAustin

I think a series of two year deals where the second year is not guaranteed may be a good route to go. Kelly played great last year but struggled the year before. I’m all for taking it basically one year at a time until he retires or the wheels fall off

Thank you. I just saw Zaire was ranked 100 and came here to respond. As always my post are my opinion and I’m wrong often. Zaire reminds of D’qwell Jackson who also played for the Colts and Browns. Racked up a ton of tackles every year but didn’t seem to make game changing impact. Saying that, opponents have him ranked high, he is a captain and the Colts gave him a hefty raise with a new contract. They easily know more than I do.

Very good points. I strongly feel the DL will again be the strength of that side of the ball. I’m expecting a top 10 performance from the front 4. I’m not as worried about the DBs as most except for health. Blackmon and Brents need to stay healthy. I expect Cross and Flowers/Jones to improve with more playing time. Moore should be solid as always. Production > potential every time but there is a lot of room for improvement out of such a young position group. Especially in the turnover category. The linebackers are what I feel are the concern. I think they have reached their ceiling and it’s a very low ceiling. We hardly see any playmaking from this group. To summarize, in my opinion, the DL will be good with potential to be great, secondary will be average with the potential to create turnovers and the LBs will be poor with the potential to be average. All of this will add up to a middle of the pack defense. Let’s hope the turnovers and drive stopping plays come in the second half

If I were to guess it’s probably somewhere in the middle of the two sites. I value PFF but I also value NFL.com bc it’s close to coming from the horse’s mouth. I’ve seen others saying certain pressures shouldn’t count but not sure discounting situations that happened is a good method. The Colts sack numbers were at an all time high and I believe it’s bc they were a good line. With Partridge and the 1st round pick, this line could very well be great this year.

Still not getting why they have us ranked #8 in the league in pressure but everyone is saying the line is meh and needs more pressure.

https://www.nfl.com/news/next-gen-stats-how-defensive-pressure-defined-the-2023-nfl-season Found this article with a graph showing Colts ranked #8 in total pressure rate. Looked at another website and it shows the Colts beer the bottom 1/4 in the league

I think baseball went through something similar when analytics were introduced. So many people want to talk about their experience and why that matters. Yes, it does but so do the other methods. I never fully trust a process or judgement that is mostly based on feelings. It’s too open to variation.

I agree, he will be mostly used between the 20s. That’s where a player like him excels bc the field is more open. He will have to take a few to the house to get more recognition bc like you said he won’t be a red zone target. I think he is going to make the perfect high end 3rd receiver in this offense.

The colts have invested two 2nds and 3rd on starting CBs and S. I believe they will drop some money and/or more draft capital on these positions. Just will be when the right player is available. I felt the Colts were going to draft a CB in round one when they couldn’t trade up for an offensive piece but Liatu fell in their laps.

I see him mentioned quite often here and also on podcast I listen to. He had a fantastic rookie season and plenty of reason to expect more growth from him. He broke the team record for rookie receptions and had 771yds and 2 tds. If he can get 15-20% more yards and hit the 5-6 TD mark, more people will start to talk about him. He just needs to play more but I’m looking forward to seeing how he grows in this offense.

You are absolutely right the secondary and LBs deserve concern. I’m standing by my position more bc I think the DL has a chance to be top 5 in the league and there should be improvement from the younger DBs. I wouldn’t say my fandom is skewing my view bc I’m very critical of this team. I don’t think AR is the answer at QB but he has the ability, drive and coaching to be a star. I do think the CBs and Cross have loads of potential but of course it’s a wait and see. The talent is there to win a playoff game in the next 3 years. Whether or not the players and coaches will get there is something we will have to wait and see.

60 was the number I had in my mind for a goal over the next few years. Thats a big increase in production but within the 10-20% boost I’m hoping Partridge can give coaching these guys up. With the addition of those two players you mentioned and of course health, it is possible. If the Colts DL can produce close to that and we have solid development from AR, this team has a real shot at making the divisional round of the playoffs and the division. I really see that happening in the next 2-3 years. To me that is a successful season bc once you are to the 2nd round of the playoffs, every team is capable of winning it all. Make a conference championship and we start comparing to other years of top 10 Colts teams.

Would it be much of a bold prediction to think they can break the team record for sacks again? When I was looking at all time team sack records I saw the 2022 Eagles had 70, which was two away from the 84 Bears. I knew the Eagles had a great line that year but didnt realize it produced that much. Almost makes 51 seem low but that is still 3 a game.

That has to be one of the most solid DE rotations in the league. No star power(yet) but solid top to bottom. I believe you have mentioned Charlie Partridge multiple times as an addition. I hope he elevates these DE’s 10-20% along with Buckner, Grover and Davis. We have the makings of a dominant DL that excels in all phases including endurance from rotating. I’m really excited to see this line come into their own as the season develops.

Ballard usually tells us exactly what he is going to do. In an interview he stated they can’t tell anything until the pads come on. The Colts will make a decision in training camp. Until then Blackmon and Cross are the starters. I personally don’t feel the Colts will sign a bigger name safety and instead go with a backup type player for depth. Forum won’t like it but the Colts prefer to play their guys and see what happens.