stitches

Those are rookie mini-camp tryouts/invites that did well and are now signing contracts so we keep them for the rest of the OTAs and camp . If I had to guess those are standard contracts and not a ton of the money is guaranteed. And probably all other camp invites that get approved for the next step of the off-season program sign similar contracts... here's the news of 3 other players signing with the Colts at the same time Woods signed. We didn't get their contract length but might be similar: If anyone knows for certain and I'm not right, feel free to correct me.

I think he brings in some value to teams. This league is so incestuous and works so much through who you know and who you've worked with that you have to have done some incredibly heinous stuff to completely be out of the league, especially after getting as high in the hierarchy as Grigson did(GM). At the very least his connections and experience in the processes of the league is probably something teams that have hired him since his ousting from the Colts value in him. But his player evaluations speak for themselves. There were some insane stats about his draft picks retention in the NFL. A ton of them not only didn't make it with the Colts but were out of the league almost immediately after being cut by the Colts. Both him and Pagano were carried for half a decade by a generational talent at QB until he broke down because of what those two and those under them did or failed to do to support our franchise QB.

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Didn't know where to post this, so... here it goes... Just confirmation that Ballard loves the Senior Bowl.

That's an interesting question... Who do you think gives us a chance to get to the playoffs this year if he starts at QB? I actually think the only chance at playoffs we have is if Richardson starts and is more ready than people assume. I don't think this team is good enough to be a playoff team with Minshew starting.

At this time I will give it 7 wins... but I reserve the right to change my mind depending on how training camp goes and what Richardson looks like.

I agree... it seems like Marocco Brown is the guy who pushed for Richardson the hardest. IMO this pick can either make Marocco Brown a GM or seriously hurt his chances going forward. And of course Ballard has been scouting with him for ... what is it? decades now? I bet Ballard trusts him a lot. And I'm not saying this in order to take responsibility away from Ballard. Like you said... at the end it's Ballard's decision and he chooses who to trust and whose opinion to put the most weight on. And if Richardson hits, it would be a win for Ballard... and for every member of the Colts organization, but maybe just a tad bit more of a win for Brown. And if he busts, it will be again on Ballard and the whole Colts organization... but maybe a tad bit more of a bust on Brown. About Randy Mueller... IMO he's allowing his pre-draft evaluation of the prospect(he wasn't a fan and he thought him and Levis were not worth a 1st round pick), influence his judgement in what he's seeing in the post-draft aftermath and he's projecting his own doubts on the Colts evaluators. That's why he was quick to jump on this 3 seconds video from the draft coverage in which they showed video from the Colts draft room that was NOT live and was happening probably minutes after the pick was made and the excitement has subsided. And he should have known better... but he didn't. Oh well... we have the full video of the moment Arizona traded back... we have the reaction of Ballard and we have the reaction of the room to the actual pick. And much more important - we actually have the guy we wanted... the rest is all moot...

Quite honestly... I don't think at this moment the place the Colts hold in the pecking order is very important. We are not good enough to contend right now, so we should be prioritizing the development of our young guys and making sure THE guy who's supposed to be our franchise QB is getting better and closer to the goal of being that franchise QB for us. To answer the question... IMO we are in the bottom half of the AFC... but we might be more competitive than people think. I can see us having a 6-7 win season... maybe even 8-9 with some luck going our way.

No, no current footage of Leonard...

I was watching this clip from "Good morning, football", and Logan Ryan from the Titans was their guest and here's something he mentioned about Leonard. He said he's been working out with Leonard 5 days a week in Tampa and he says he's coming back, he's healthy and he's looking great. (Go to around 5 minute mark)

I hope the Washington sale gets finalized soon so the Colts and Commanders new owners can reach an agreement like the one the Eagles and Cardinals negotiated for Gannon's tampering. We win nothing if the league sanctions them and takes away a 1st. I'd rather us swap 3d for 2nd or something of the sort than not get anything. But at this point all this is wishful thinking, since we don't even know if there's any evidence of the tampering other than the media report.

I think this is counter-intuitive but if Richardson starts Taylor's volume probably goes down because he will be sharing designed runs with the QB, around whom the offense is built. His efficiency might go up though... both of their efficiency running the ball might be sky high...

I have it in my feed and listen to it when Cosell is on. I think he's invaluable resource for fans of any team really.

To be fair Irsay said we probably would have taken Levis... OR... traded back... In reality we would never be 100% sure what Ballard would have done and IMO this decision was his, not Irsay's. I love that Irsay seems to have taken a step back after his last season's shenanigans. Both the coaching decision and the QB pick are not what people who thought Irsay is heavily involved would have guessed.

I think Greg Cosell is one of the best evaluators and analysts out there that are available for free and I value his opinion, even if I don't always agree with it. Here he is him talking about a few of the Colts picks with a Tennessee-based podcast: I will try to transcribe some of his thoughts: On Anthony Richardson: - he starts talking about him by reading the end of his scouting report from before the draft and before knowing he will end up with the Colts: "I could see Richardson early in his career working in an offense similar to the Eagles’ with Jalen Hurts, with multiple run game concepts that start with the QB and a pass game that works off the run game with defined reads and throws, given the greater predictability of defensive alignments and coverages." - he thought Richardson's best opportunity to be successful early was in that style of offense and that's exactly what he's getting. He added he thinks Richardson will start day 1. - when the QB can run... when he has a major sigificant running element to his game if affects the defense in terms of how they align and how they have to account for gaps, because the QB is now a runner so very often, almost all the time, a safety now has to be in a different position than he would be in if it was more conventional offense with a great run game. That's why those offenses are built on the QB and his abilty to run. People think that because the Eagles offense looks so efficient, anyone can run it, but that's not true. Richardson will not be as efficient as Jalen Hurts was this year in the passing game, but the run game element will be there. - every team plays with a safety in the box, when you play against a QB who can run, but the free safety also has to be involved in the run game. He's the extra QB player and he almost always lines up to the side of the RB, so now now that free safety is not really a deep player in a strict sense... he becomes that if it's a pass play but he doesn't start there, so with Richardson what you are going to get is, relatively speaking, it becomes easier in terms of what he's seeing. - in this league, you cannot miss routine throws. You cannot miss the layups and he missed too many layups in college. - There is a lot of talk about his lower body mechanics and there's no question about that - his footwork needs to be better, Too often his feet were either too wide or too close together. He didn't always throw with a firm base... but when he did, it was beautiful. It's there. It's in his body... it's a question of can he do it all the time? On Julius Brents: - 6'3"with 34" arms, which is absurd for a CB - desirable combination of size, length, plus athletic movement, very competitive, - extensive experience both in zone and man coverage. - he can play mirror match press man, he can play physical press-man - played good % of snaps in zone coverage and was one of a few of the CBs who showed a strong feel for route concepts and combinations in zone coverage, which you don't see often with college CBs - most 6'3" CBs are not what you would describe as sudden or explosive, but he's smooth, he's fluid. Thought he had really good traits. Not surprised he went in R2. On Josh Downs: - He's different than the big receivers the Colts have... - twitchy, explosive slot type receiver - dynamic route quickness, he's sudden and shifty, dynamic after the catch guy, he can accelerate - he is a space guy, you will see him in motion - he's a really good prospect - not the size you would want, but he fits today's NFL passing game, you can move him, he's a fun watch - fits extremely well in that style of offense On Adetomiwa Adebawore: - an interesting prospect... he has unbelievable physical and athletic traits - he's not as good as his traits at this moment, and that's probably why he lasted until day 3. - the 40 time, the jumps, the short shuttle is off-the-charts... - played inside and outside in Northwestern - really good arm length, burst and suddenness to his movement, strong powerful hands - the traits are all there in his body, you can see it on tape on occasion, but you don't see it quite enough - great confined space force and strength, really strong heavy hands... he has so many things you love and there so much to work with and cultivate ... it just needs to come out more in his play

My bold prediction is Richardson will surprise a lot of people this year. I think he will have better rookie year than Josh Allen or Jalen Hurts had. And he will have a better year than he had in Florida. You know how I was harping on all those QBs who had low efficiency first year starting in college but made strides in their second and third year? Well my bold prediction is Richardson has his "second year" jump directly in the pros. He will have better weapons with the Colts, he will have much better coaching and he will have an offensive system directly suited and built for him. I'm cautiously optimistic for the OL taking a step in the right direction with a new coach too.

In the modern day NFL the passing game is king and I disagree the WR position was a strength at the time. Nowadays you need at least 2-3 legit receivers. Some teams are going for 4 now. I think if Addison turns out good you would never worry whether you should have taken a defensive player or not. So the main consideration really should be how good you think he will be. As I mentioned above, WR is considered one of the most valuable positions nowadays because the passing game is king and determines a lot of the offensive success of a team. And thus the positions that are directly involved in the passing game ( or in disrupting it) are the most valuable - QB, WR... OT on offense and CB, EDGE(pass rushers) on defense. Most of the modern day NFL analytics confirm that too - WR is among the positions that convey the highest WAR. BTW NFL market value agrees too - WRs are among the highest paid positions(if not the highest after the QB), so if you can have a great contributor on a rookie contract instead of paying him 20m+ that's great value too.

I have no idea what the Colts would have done at 4 if say the Titans or Seahawks traded ahead of us and drafted Richardson. Levis obviously has some talent and I don't think it's out of the question we would have taken him at 4 if all other 3 were gone. But at the same time I agree with your overall point... There were tons and tons of teams that could have been natural fits for Levis and none of them bit in the first round. There definitely must have been some serious worries about him for him to fall that much. I think a lot less talented QBs have been drafted in the first before. The team that drafted him themselves picked an OT who might not even play OT in the league while risking 20 other teams would get Levis before they had the chance to draft him. My thoughts before the draft were that I would have been good with any of the 4 QBs. BUT... that illusion of mine lasted until the final minutes before the draft when the odds for Levis to the Colts skyrocketed to -2000(about 95% implied probability)... and my heart dropped. So I'm thankful for those oddsmakers making me realize I really wouldn't have liked us drafting Levis ahead of Richardson. It felt like a gut punch at the time. Oh well... I'm glad we got our guy and Ballard wasn't forced to make that decision.

I had other players I would have taken over Addison at that spot but IMO that pick is very understandable and could turn into something great for you guys. I think WR is quite possibly the second most important position after QB(or at the very least in a cluster of the most important positions). I think the problem with drafting Philip Dorsett was not that he was a WR... it was that he wasn't good enough. Nobody would have batted an eye if Dorsett turned into a legit threat for us(aka if he turned into a Justin Jefferson who was taken in the same range if the draft).

I've been on a vacation for the last week but from the little I've seen I love the general vibe and what I'm hearing from our new rookies and especially from Richardson and Downs. So far so good.

Thanks for helping us get our next franchise QB, Nick

I was just listening to Greg Cosell talking about Richardson and he kind of shocked me with his prediction. He's more of a traditional scout and his opinion on Richardson is very much along the lines of "he's a big project and needs a lot of development"... and despite that he was unequivocal that he thinks Richardson starts day 1. The reason - he said the offense Steichen will build for him will be similar to the one he had for Hurts and this simplifies a lot of the reads for a QB... So at the same times Richardson's running ability and threat will serve him as a crutch in his initial game experience and at the same time that threat makes it extremely difficult for defenses to throw super complicated and intricate looks at him because he can always punish them with his feet. So even in the passing game he will likely be getting simplified and well defined reads that he can execute. He said Steichen did the same with Hurts...

Agree with a lot of the rest of the post, disagree with this one. How much further along in his development as a passer was Michael Vick? In 2 years he completed about as many passes as Richardson did in his single year starting and his completion % in the second year was almost identical to Richardson's. And he's much smaller of course. I think this type of athletes are always sought after. The disconnect comes from people thinking those types of athletes come along every few years, when in reality it's more like once every decade(Vick, Cam, Richardson) and when they do, they get drafted high for their potential.