John Hammonds

The Texans draft fell exactly the way I thought it would. I knew I would get one of the two prime-time LT's with the 3rd pick. I knew that one of the Ohio St WR's would be available with my 2nd first round pick. And I was pretty sure that Desmond Ridder would be available at 37. So far, I'm happy. I've got two 3rd round picks (68 and 80), and I've got my eye on about 6 guys who may fall to those spots.

Welcome to Day 3 of the 2022 Gavin NFL Mock Draft. With the 37th pick, the Houston Texans select Desmond Ridder, QB Cincinnati @coltsfanej and the New York Jets are now on the clock

Back after watching the 2-hour premier of Deadliest Catch. And the player I wanted at 37 is still on the board. I'll give you all 21 hours to try to figure out who it is.

Dunno. If I were the Cardinals GM, I would choose Kenny Pickett, and then tell my guy to go call Kyler Murray's agent and tell him !@#$#@ you, I'm not gonna be held hostage by a QB throwing a tantrum. Done and Done.

DE? or DT? Jordan Davis is such a hotly debated player, that I wouldn't want to pick him in someone else's stead. Does he really deserve to go this high or not?

LOL don't blame me! Olave came off the board right about where he was supposed to. Blame the teams that reached for Drake London and Jameson Williams.

With the 13th pick in the 2022 Gavin NFL Mock Draft, the Houston Texans select Chris Olave, WR, Ohio State @WarGhost21 and the Baltimore Ravens are now on the clock

Wow, Kyle Hamilton is in free fall.

With the 3rd pick the 2022 Gavin NFL Mock Draft, the Houston Texans select Evan Neal, LT, Alabama @coltsfanej and the New York Jets are now on the clock

Yes, I can see the thread

They even drafted for it. Khaled Holmes out of USC. But year after year, he couldn't crack the starting lineup. The continuous band of off the street hobos were always better than him. Until they flat-out handed him the job in 2015, and he was terrible. Next draft? Ryan Kelly, round 1.

I'm gonna walk into this argument because, well, I'm kinda dumb that way. (To be fair, I'm kinda dumb in other ways, too.) But I also have an opinion on the matter. I think that Luck got hit a lot and got hurt a lot because of a perfect storm of conditions: (1) To my knowledge, they were running the Zampese offense at the time. Which normally requires deeper pass routes, longer throws, and holding onto the ball longer. (2) After Reggie left the team, the primary receiver was TY Hilton. Who, with his smaller size and catch radius, had to create separation in order to be open. Which means running further downfield. Which means holding onto the ball longer. (3) The patchwork OL was just not jelling. Yes, Grigson addressed it. Over and over. (Satele, McGlynn, Cherilus, and others) But it just wasn't working out. So -- You had a QB throwing in an offense that required him to hold onto the ball longer, to a receiver that required him to hold onto the ball longer, with an OL that couldn't protect him for an extended period of time. Is anybody surprised that he got hit? A lot? And got hurt? A lot?

When I think of the Colts coming into the 2022 season after the horrendous collapse of the end of last season, I'm reminded of a quote from the West Wing. President Bartlett has just accepted a joint censure for lying about his illness during the last campaign, while delivering the State of the Union and kicking off the new campaign. Abby Bartlett calls it defeat. And you don't take the school bully out to lunch after he takes your lunch money. Later in the show, Josh Lyman makes a statement of courage and intent: "Anybody here think this president can't deliver this? Can't turn this around? I still got my lunch money." We still have the best running back in the league. A great offensive line. An opportunistic defense with some great players. And we've now added a very good quarterback. You think we can't turn this around? We still got our lunch money.

I want to play in Jacksonville opening day. Wanna get some revenge right outta the gate.

To keep the positive thread going, I'll post my Waaaaaay Too Early 2022 game predictions: DIVISION GAMES 4-2 Houston at home (WIN) Houston away (WIN) Jacksonville at home (WIN) Jacksonville away (Loss - until we can prove otherwise) Tennessee at home (WIN) Tennessee away (Loss) CONFERENCE GAMES 2-4 Kansas City at home (Loss) LA Chargers at home (Loss) Denver away (WIN) Las Vegas away (Loss) Pittsburgh at home (WIN) New England away (Loss) INTERCONFERENCE GAMES 4-1 Philadelphia at home (WIN) Washington at home (WIN) Dallas away (Loss) NY Giants away (WIN) Minnesota away (WIN) SEASON RECORD 10-7

I'll do you one better. I believe that we were in win-now mode last year. Thus, the Wentz deal, the Fisher deal, etc. Probably the only non win-now thing we did last year was trust in Paye and Dayo to provide pass rush for us. Being in win-now mode last year made last year's collapse sting that much more. We'd done it. We were winning. We were dangerous. And then, poof, nothing. Worse than nothing. I think now we're in win-or-else mode. If what we do this year doesn't get us into the playoffs, then I fear we've effectively peaked, and it doesn't get any better than this. And that sucks. Whether they admit it or not, I think Ballard's and Reich's seats are hot. Not blazing hot. But hot. And there are some things that we just can't do this year. Like find a long term solution at LT. All we can do is the best we can do. Put on a helmet, and play.

Colts Fans: If Ballard doesn't address the pass rush, I'm gonna lose it! Ballard trades for Ngakue Colts Fans: If Ballard doesn't address the quarterback, I'm gonna lose it! Ballard acquires Ryan Colts Fans: If Ballard doesn't add a wide receiver, I'm gonna lose it! Let the man work. We can complain about the team he's built after he's built it.

Is Kwity Paye not on your team?

And let's not leave out that Ballard also oversaw the changing out of defensive coordinators in such a manner that [a] we no longer play ultra-soft on 3rd and long, [b] won't have to make wholesale personnel changes to implement the new defense, and [c] have a new coordinator that has had previous success in the past and not some position coach who's never done this before.

I, for one, am going to be sorry to see Pascal go. No, he's not starter material. No, he isn't amazing. But he always showed up. He did everything anyone asked him. From WR to Gunner to ironing everybody's jerseys (if they asked). You should never have a Zach Pascal starting for you. But everyone should have a Zach Pascal on their team.

I'm positive that the Colts will acquire a free agent QB before the draft.

I'm waiting for the headline that says, "Raiders pay a king's ransom for a wide receiver and a defensive end."

LOL, "per me"

I guess we have a goal for this thread then.

Ok, here's a new candidate. Since we obtained Adam Vinatieri over 10 years ago. Frank Gore, 2015 to 2017 3 years, 48 games, 2953 rushing yards, 789 rec yards, 19 total TD's.