shasta519

I think Bradley is all but gone, unless they make the playoffs. Beyond the coaching staff, the defense has a lot of question marks this offseason. 1. Do they retain Kenny Moore? 2. Do they retain Blackmon? 3. Do they retain Grove? 4. Do they extend DeFo? 5. Do they continue to depend on Speed and Zaire at LB? Lots of questions before even getting to the CB position. A new coaching staff would only add to it. But my guess is the defense will look very different in two years.

Before the season, it was likely that this offense was going to run through MPJ and Downs. When Steichen was in PHI, there really wasn't a WR3, aside from occasional deep ball. AJB and Smith were often the top two reads in the RPO. Whether it was a rookie QB or Minshew, we should have expected this to continue. And MPJ and Downs are far better fits for that type of offense. Hopefully AP gets a chance next year. I have been critical enough of AP and not much has changed for me. He will be on the roster next year, but the Colts are going to add a WR to pair with MPJ.

Probably had already scheduled it on this date earlier or before the season. Definitely can't do it Week 18. Either that game matters (it likely will) and you don't want to distract...OR the season is over and less people will be there.

So it WAS WAS eh

But if Downs had his "franchise QB" throwing to him all year, he wouldn't have better stats because they wouldn't be throwing as much as they do with Minshew. AR's injury has been a huge boost to both MPJ and Downs from an opportunity/target standpoint.

That was WAS that hurt Manning's neck I believe.

If they re-sign Moore and Blackmon, then they are basically just running it back. Maybe throw in a draft pick or two. And then next season, once the Colts are no longer playing a bottom 3 schedule against terrible QBs like Phillip Walker, Bryce Young or Mac Jones...I have a feeling we are all going to wonder what happened to the secondary from last season? That said, I imagine it will depend on what (if anything) happens with Bradley.

Kenny Moore - Overall 73.4 - 60 total snaps (30 Rdef, 30 Cov) - No penalties. (Defense) -- Run defense - 61.8 -- Tackling - 80.5 - 3 Tackles, 2 Stops, No missed tackles. -- Passrush - 80.5 - No Sacks, Hits or Hurries. -- Coverage - 71.0 - Gave up 7/8 targets for 99 yards (14.1 Y/REC), Gave up 2 TDs, 1 Pass breakup. Now this makes me question PFF. Moore gets a 73.4 grade overall and a 71 coverage grade? He gave up a perfect passer rating and two TDs...no way that can be considered above average. And his run grade wasn't very high either. He didn't even blitz, so his pass rush grade is irrelevant. Yet, that pass rush grade and 3 tkls is enough to boost his overall grade to above average? I just find that strange.

But that's kind of a point on its own. I really like Downs, but I would also say Dell is a better WR/playmaker. He looks the part of a potential PBer, whereas Downs seems like a good slot WR. The Colts seem to get guys that are one tier below and that's even more reason for them not to stand pat at WR.

You might be in the minority, but I don't think you're wrong to have higher expectations for a R2 pick...especially with the hype before last season and then heading into this season. Prior to last season, people were actually talking about him unseating MPJ as the WR1 on this team. And then this year was going to be his big breakout.

In PHI, Steichen ran the offense through two WRs (AJB and Smith). He had a guy like Quez Watkins to stretch the field, but he was a small part of the offense. Even with AR, I think it's still going to be MPJ and Downs because they are those first/second read type WRs. But AR should give him a few more opportunities...I just think Pierce's role is still going to be diminished for the expectations coming into the NFL.

Well, stats can be objective, whereas fans aren't. I am not sure what there is to suggest that Pierce is any more than a depth WR. The biggest thing he has going for him is draft capital.

Agree. The LB room has become really overrated for some reason. Franklin is can ask, but he's not going to get it. If they are extending any d guys into their 30s, it has to be Grover or DeFo.

Hicks is a silly Colts fanboy. Franklin, at best, is a top 5 LB in the AFCS. He's a solid run tackler though.

I don't think most Colts fans would like what they see haha. It would certainly be a reality check.

A big part of that is because they haven't even tried to find a replacement or even legit depth at LG. But Speed is only a replacement because Leonard's play hasn't been good. Speed is not some star being held back. And the Q of the past 2+ years is very much replaceable...at a position that is not too difficult to address. So given two offseasons, I think there would be a replacement option. But again, it's more about the direction the team is taking. It's not anything against Q.

Should he get paid like the top slot CB? We just forget about the past two years? And now he's going to be 29. Just look at this season. Moore hasn't had an aDOT over 5 yards since the LAR game. His aDOT for the entire season is 5.0. That's a massive decrease from the 7-8.5 of the last 3 seasons, when he struggled at times. And that's aDOT is what you see with LBs, not CBs. And the decrease is likely not a coincidence. It's either because the Colts have played terrible QBs recently (true)...OR he's not being asked to defend anything beyond a few yards past the LOS. I think it's a bit of both. And if Bradley made changes, it wasn't to take advantage of Moore's versatility. I really don't see the appeal of paying a 29-31 year-old Kenny Moore at all.

I will own it. He was dog poo for two years. He didn't even have trade value. And while I get the NFL is all about what you have done for met lately, this is largely based on Moore getting a couple of gimme picks against an overloaded rookie on arguably the worst offense in the NFL. That somehow has vaunted him back to being the best slot CB in the NFL. Talk about recency bias. I think if the Colts extend him, they are fools. Letting some other team pay him if he is really the best slot CB in the NFL.

Q has played ok, but certainly not to the level that he is paid. And I don't want him gone in a vacuum. Should also clarify...it can't even be done after this season anyways because of the dead cap hit. But after next season, there is an out. And if he's not playing at a PB or AP level, I would like to see the Colts take it. I was more speaking to Colts loyalty to their guys still being a big thing. I find it refreshing that they are willing to make moves like this.

That will almost certainly be the narrative that will be spun...that the LB room doesn't need him because there's other young talent that needs to play. In reality, Franklin will be 28 next year and Speed will be 29. I think this move is more about financials.

I would love to see them stop doing that. Hell, release Q after this season too. Pay $25M AAV for a LG who is maybe top 10 at the position is wild. Off-topic to your post, but I didn't want to dig around 12 pages of comments. I seem to recall a lot of discussions we had about Leonard's body type and how that could impact his career. Got a lot of flack for it too. But I think this could be it for him.

I knew there was no way that both Leonard and Q would be on this team in 2024. Surprised they waived him in-season...hoping maybe somebody will scoop up the rest of his base salary I guess.

Grigson had $38M in dead cap space from releasing Manning and having to purge the Polian-era bad contracts of Hayden, Addai, Clark, Bullitt and Brackett. The salary cap at the time was only $120M, so that was nearly 1/3. On top of that, Grigson also inherited the final year of Freeney's contract. And at the time, his $19M cap hit was the largest in the NFL (across all positions). And Freeney was a poor fit for Pagano's scheme, so might as well add that to the dead cap...and nearly half of the cap was gone. Regarding the comments about Luck's contract, all Grigson said was: It was little more than expectation-setting because we had seen a lot of FA spending from 2013-15, especially on defense. But now there weren't going to be quick fixes anymore via FA...it was going to be about the draft and player development. But naturally, the local media painted it as Grigson blaming Luck's contract for the performance of the defense. And while Grigson deserved (some) criticism for the defense, that's not what he was doing. He was just being honest and setting expectations. It's especially silly...because when Ballard talks about delayed gratification or says there are no quick fixes (like he did this frickin' offseason), he is praised. But when Grigson does it, he is misconstrued and vilified. Just Exhibit 140A on the double standard that exists between the two GMs.

Why not? A 3-3 record doesn't prevent a GM from being questioned. Ballard's Colts were 3-2-1 in 2022...finished 1-10-1 to go 4-12-1. Ballard's Colts were 9-6 in 2021...finished 0-2 to choke and miss the playoffs. Ballard's Colts were 5-2 in 2019...finished 2-7 to go 7-9. 2020 is seeming to be an outlier. And while Ballard's Colts are 3-3 right now, I wouldn't be surprised if this year goes south in a similar way to those previous seasons, which would make it 4/5 seasons marked by some type of collapse. Many would say poor QB play is the constant. And while that it is true, the real common denominator is Ballard. That said, I don't think anything is happening to Ballard for at least two more years.

Keeping this specific to Ballard, I sort of disagree with the bolded. I do agree that Ballard had some unfavorable conditions, including a bad roster. But most new GMs do as well. But beyond that, I actually think the conditions have been pretty favorable: Luck was injured, but he was here. And few GMs ever get to inherit a franchise QB, even an injured one. Luck did come back in 2018, which is still Ballard's most successful season. Luck retiring was clearly unfavorable, but it really just created a normal scenario for most GMs who have to address QB, instead of some extraordinarily unfavorable condition. And it bought Ballard a very long leash. Luck being hurt and missing 2017 was actually favorable, as it not only gave Ballard a rebuilding year, instead of immediate pressure to succeed...and it led to a top 3 pick in a QB-heavy 2018 draft. To his credit, Ballard was able to take advantage of that situation and turn it into the #6 pick and (3) R2 picks. But that was a massive advantage to accelerate the rebuild. If Ballard didn't have Luck on the roster, QBs like Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen could be punchlines around here...and Ballard could be Director of Football Operations for another team. Instead, he was able to build his reputation on that draft and has been able to hold onto it for several years, despite the mediocre results of this team (and more recent drafts). Ballard inherited a good cap situation. It was his decision to not spend it for the first few years, but cap space was not an issue when he took over. Ballard has a very patient boss, as we have seen. All in all, I think Ballard has had it pretty good. And it's allowed him to likely be in this job for a decade without much success. Some of the stuff is out of his control, but a lot of the issues with this team and roster are self-inflicted by the braintrust. JMO.