John Hammonds

I agree. I think that both AR and Levis have a certain amount of chance to be a bust. But the difference may simply be in their age. AR will have 5 or 6 years to prove he's The Guy. While Levis may only have 3 years before he gets the "bust" label. In other words, teams were more willing to bet on AR's future than on Levis' present. And, remember, I was on record as being all-in on Levis, and scared to death of AR. But AR's our quarterback, so I'm going to root for him to succeed, and hope like heck he becomes all he can possibly be. As for Levis, well... He's better beat out Malik this year. 'Cause the clock's already tickin'.

Agreed. Also, I'm still intrigued by what we got in Emil Ekiyor. Lindy's Draft Guide had him projected as a 5th rounder. Now, if we'd spent one of our many 5th rounders on him, there would have been cheering from these boards that we "addressed" the right guard position. Yay! But instead, we got him as an undrafted free agent. Meh. I supposed we didn't "address" it. With what we've done in Freeland and Ekiyor, there are a lot of mix-and-match possibilities out there for our new OL coach to try. I'm not unhappy with what we did.

I usually attend one game a year. Sometimes two or three. Was watching for the date of the Bucs game for the possibility of having my half brother come up from Florida to watch. But it's on Thanksgiving weekend. Poo.

I agree. Of all the positions from last year that performed the worst and were addressed the least, it's Center and Right Guard. Yes, we have questions at WR. And, yes, we have questions at CB. And, yes, we have questions about run blocking TE. And, yes, we have questions about whether or not Leonard will play. But all of those positions were either addressed, or deemed to have sufficient existing players to do something. At Center, it's Kelly or a massively less talented backup. It's his job to get straight. He's played at a pro bowl level before. He needs to find it within himself to do it again. At Right Guard, it's a mysteriously undrafted rookie, or a severely substandard guy masquerading as a starter. Either way, it's a good bet that our guard play will be shaky. (Unless we move Smith inside, and start the rookie at RT? Uh oh. I said the words, didn't I?) Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. We addressed the "impact positions" in the offseason. And a lot of people would be complaining if we'd continued to bolster the positions commonly considered to not matter as much. But out of all the positions on the team, C/RG are the ones that are the most concerning.

I think we'll be good enough to surprise a few people, and bad enough to not surprise anybody.

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Watching his film -- yes, he battles. And has some highlight plays. But also a lot of his sacks were coverage sacks. And a lot of his big plays were against lesser opposition. Let's not fool ourselves here. With Buckner, Stewart, Lewis, Odeyingbo, and the rest in front of him, there's little chance he's going to be playing a whole lot. Naw, with his raw foot speed, he's gonna be playing a lot of special teams. At least, until he gets a chance to play when someone else can't. I like the guy, but I'm not gonna be blind to the reality of the moment. He's got a trait that we can use right now: his foot speed. The rest -- that may come later.

Tiny. He's no help as a blocker in the run game. Anyone that tackles him, absolutely rag dolls him. He doesn't barrel through people. He doesn't muscle his way through a tackle. If he bounces off, hooray. Otherwise, every tackler overwhelms him. That being said, he makes the most of what is in his tool kit. He's jittery. He's quick. He'll sidestep you and make the impossible catch. Sure, he's gonna get mauled when he gets tackled. But he made the catch. Have a nice day.

Just watched highlight vid on Josh Downs. Electric. More quick than fast. Plays tiny. Every time he gets hit, I expect him to leave pieces behind. Amazing hands. Catches EVERYTHING. Makes me think he'll have a similar career path to TY Hilton. He's drafted specifically to be a slot, and then winds up the best receiver on the team. Speaking of TY, is this karma or what? 2012 1st round - Andrew Luck, QB 3rd round - TY Hilton, WR 2023 1st round - Anthony Richardson, QB 3rd round - Joshua Downs, WR

*sigh* None of the current, um, what passes as "discussion" has anything to do with the Colts taking AR at #4.

Yes we do!

Nice write-up. And you are right. The biggest summary issue with the Colts last year was that they were Boring. Not gonna be boring anymore!

In case anyone is keeping track, here's the QB room: Nick Foles Sam Ehlinger Gardner Minshew Anthony Richardson Guess who won't be on the team when the season starts?

Time to predict how far Levis falls! Round 2 Pick 32 - Steelers NOPE Pick 33 - Cardinals NOPE Pick 34 - Lions MAYBE Pick 35 - Colts NOPE Pick 36 - Rams MAYBE Pick 37 - Seahawks MAYBE Pick 38 - Raiders MAYBE Pick 39 - Panthers NOPE And does Hooker get picked before Levis?

That's true. Training camp is gonna be exciting. They may need to double the bleacher space!

We did indeed. This isn't the Colts turning the page. This is the Colts writing an entirely new book!

Welp.... After thinking about this overnight, I've arrived at this conclusion: The Colts are definitely not in win-now mode. They've got a sushi-raw QB that won't start for a year, and might not begin to build momentum for another year. Maybe more. They've got a brand new HC that's never coached before, and has a 6-year contract. It's possible that the players we got in the 2018 draft will be at the end of their careers by the time this new plan is ready.

Potential players for the Colts at 35 DB Joey Porter, CB, Penn St Julius Brents, CB, Kansas St Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia IOL O'Cyrus Torrence, OG, Florida (AR's teammate) John Michael Schmitz, OC, Minnesota Luke Wypler, OC, Ohio St TE Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia WR Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee

And that's that. Levis falls out of the 1st round. Geez.

I'm beginning to think that Ballard may take TE Darnell Washington at 35.

So far.... Winner of the draft: Houston Texans Took one of the top 2 QB's, and then traded back up and took the best impact defender in the draft. Loser of the draft: Detroit Lions Blew two first round picks - took a RB at #12 when they could have taken him later, and then took a big inside linebacker. Didn't the Colts tell them that it's not 1985 anymore? And that you don't build your team around these positions anymore?

Anybody left in the 1st round who would take Levis? What about the Saints?

Well, Vikings fans? Here comes the moment of truth.

We haven't seen a TE picked yet.