Pancake Block
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Posts posted by Pancake Block
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Would have liked to see a feature on Donta Hightower instead of Kuechly. We may actually have a shot at drafting Hightower. Kuechly will be long gone by the time the second round starts.
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Actually, Bosworth had a couple of pretty good seasons. Everybody just remembers him getting run over by Bo Jackson (happened to a lot of NFL guys)and his steroid use. Bosworth was a flake and a loudmouth, so he got a lot of media attention.they linebacker drafted by Seattle years ago was a huge bust as well, blonde headed mullit guy forgets his name, Bosworth maybe
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I agree that this year's TE draft is terribly weak. Personally, I hope Donta Hightower is there at #34. Our defensive center would be bulletproof for the next 10 years with him and Angerer in the middle. Hightower has been team captain and making 3-4 defensive calls for Alabama for a couple of years, too. TE is a problem area, but I think we might be able to get by with a FA signee and a late-round pick like Kevin Koger from Michigan until next year. We do need at least two more WRs on the roster and this is an very strong draft at that position. Maybe not a large group of elite guys, but a huge group of very good ones (and BIG). Let's hope for a big find here because I'd feel better with Wayne moving back to #2 position and finding a new #1. With a new defensive scheme and all our cuts in personnel, we need help almost everywhere. This really is a "best available" draft for us as long as the best available fits scheme-wise. We'll have to patch any holes with inexpensive FA signees.This years tight end class is awful, and the WR class is Good.
i know that everyone wants Fleener but what if per say we took jefffery/hill/wright this year, then deal with one year of crappy Tight end play, then take a guy like Tyler Eifert next year?
I do like Fleener but any other year he would be late 2nd early 3rd round
Thoughts
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Believe it or not, I think we're in a pretty good position for this draft. We have needs for starters or first level back-ups at almost every position. If ever there was a draft where you should rely heavily on your Big Board, this is it. Best available player for every round. Keep finding the guys who should have been drafted the previous round but fell through the cracks due to other teams overreaching and drafting for need. That strategy will insure that we upgrade our overall talent level and help us pinpoint weak spots for the following years' drafts.
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I'm hoping Freeney can lose a few pounds (he had to put on a few to stand up to run in old defense) and make the transition to OLB. Not encouraged that Freeney can be traded with his salary cap hit.I doubt they get a 2nd rounder straight up for Freeney, but maybe, if packaged with our 3rd, we could get another late 1st/early second. Maybe. I'd be all in for that!
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I've been looking at the offense and see a few glaring holes. The O-line is in transition with Saturday gone to GB and Diem retiring. Are we switching from a zone scheme to a more man-power blocking scheme? Are the FAs we've signed so far going to be enough to improve the overall blocking performance? I'm still a little leery about RT and at least one OG position. We are obviously barren of pass-catching talent at TE. It wouldn't hurt my feelings if they re-signed Dallas Clark now that he's not becoming a Bronco. I'm not sure that Donald Brown can handle the load at RB. Our WR corps right now consists of Wayne, Collie, and White (returning from injury). I personally feel that Wayne should be moved to #2 position that he played when Harrison was around and we need to find another #1 guy. Collie's good in the slot and White will complete our 4-wideout sets. Our defense will obviously need help in the secondary and I'm not sure how everybody else fits into the new 3-4 look. I look for
Freeney to be cut before the season starts. He doesn't fit the new system and nobody wants to sign him under his current contract because of his $19 million salary cap hit this year. It's very frustrating to see all this talent leave the team with no compensation in draft picks.
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I'd make sure I solidify the OL before I did anything else. You can't spend the #1 pick on your team's QB for the next 12-15 years and let him get killed his first season. Management expects the team to suck for a couple of years. Might as well build a fun offense to keep the fans coming to the stadium. WRs and LBs are deep in this draft, so I'd concentrate early picks on other positions. OL, RB, CB. We could do worse than picking one or two of the OL from Wisconsin.
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Ijalana is still an unproven commodity. Hope he's healthy and turns out to be a great player. Pollak is not starting material IMHO. We need a stud at guard and to keep Saturday until we find someone to take his place who is also capable of planting Vince Woolfork on his ample posterior (The Block).I think if Reggie is gone then we should take a WR... May be unpopular by saying that but I think WR may be an area we are hurting at this year... I also wouldn't mind seeing a big DT taken there either.
I think O-line could wait until the 3rd or 4th rounds. I think with Castanzo, Reitz, Ijalana and Saturday/ Pollak we are actually pretty set on the O-Line... just need more play time together to gel and one or two more studs to round us out. This may be where FA comes into play tho as well.
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Maybe Moala will finally be able to impress. I have not liked his play in the Tampa-2. I always thought he played too high and had trouble shedding blocks. His plays always seemed on the wrong side of the scrimmage line.Great post. Mathews and Moala have played in this style. Anderson and Brayton can adapt. If Freeney, Mathis, Hughes, and the players brought in from Canada can adapt the Colts only need two players to make this work in 2012. We need a NT drafted in the 2nd round and we need to try to sign Carlos Rogers for CB.
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I'd almost bet on the 5-2 scheme, although Freeney and Mathis probably had to increase weight to play the 4-3 DE positions. Maybe at their more natural weight they would be potential pass defenders as well. I could see Freeney as a James Harrison type player in the 3-4. He and Mathis could be potentially even more dynamic if relieved of many run-stop responsibilities. Nevis is not a prototypical NT for a 3-4, but he sure would create a whole different problem set for teams used to playing against 360 lb. run-stuffers. We'd need some seriously stout ILBs with a smaller NT, however. Maybe Angerer on the weakside and Donta Hightower from Alabama on the strong side?So, will the "game wreckers" play some type of outside linebacker position like Terrell Suggs?
The only problem I have with that is that Freeney hasn't defended too many passes.
Or will they play at the line and focus primarily on the pass rush, almost like a 5-2?
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Also remember that some of these guys may not fit into the new systems the team is installing. That may be the deciding factor on whether they are still wearing Colt blue next year.The issue with Freeney is his cap hit. Manning's situation has been discussed ad nauseum. Mathis and Wayne are FAs and might price themselves right out of Indy (I think that'll happen with Wayne). I don't think people necessarily want to get rid of the stars, but we have to do what makes the most sense for the team. Is it the best choice to keep all the aging stars on a rebuilding team? Wouldn't it be better for both parties to trade them/let them go in free agency and get draft/comp picks or young players back in exchange? We get to build a strong foundation and they get a chance to get money and join a contending team. Not saying that's what we should do, just playing Devil's advocate
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Great thing about the #1 pick. You can choose whomever you think is the best player. The Colts get to watch lots of film, do lots of interviews , and watch the Combine before settling on the pick. Will they choose wisely? I hope so or this grand experiment by Irsay could turn us into the Hoosier version of the Browns.Even if we didn't have the first overall pick and had the 2nd overall instead, you would still hear all this talk. Just replace Luck's name with RG3
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Taking the whole transition into account, the thing that worries me most is switching to the 3-4 and away from the Tampa-2. I know. I know. Tons of you hate the Tampa-2, but we have been pretty successful with it. We also never had all the right pieces put together at one time to really make the Tampa-2 shine. We managed to run it well enough to win a Super Bowl and make a couple of playoff runs where nobody, and I mean nobody, could run on us. IMHO this year;s Draft will be full of Tampa-2 talent and we'll be competing with most the other teams for the 3-4 talent on the board. One of the drawbacks of going with the league's trend toward 3-4 defenses. The 3-4 is not new, so I'm wondering what has caused the movement towards it. Most of our current defensive talent may not transition well to the 3-4, so prepare for losing most of our current players.
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Just another reason why the Colts are going to be almost unregognizable to the fans next year. Manning, Saturday, mathis, Freeney, D. Clark, and Wayne could all be gone. Angerer and Collie could well be the two favorite players left next year.http://profootballta...n-front-office/
I thought this deserved it's own thread.
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I don't know about anyone else, but I'm kind of disappointed that we're going to the 3-4 defense. We are following the crowd and going with the trend on this move. Everybody's switching to the 3-4. This insures that the majority of our most popular players on defense will be gone as well and that we can look forward to at least 3 years of sub-par seasons.From what I have read, he took both San Diego and San Fran from relatively bad to relatively middle of the road defenses. Pagano pretty much stated on JMVs show that the 3-4 is on its way.
Are you all ready for the pain? It will be difficult for us ever to match the success of the Polian era, let alone surpass it. I guess we have no choice but to strive for even more excellence. Change is good so they say.
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Molly RingwaldRob Lowe
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Shipley was on Pittsburgh's practice squad and was a late round 2009 draft pick from Penn State. He also won the Rimington Award at Penn St. as the nation's top collegiate Center. He's listed at 6'1" and 315lbs. Arians must have wanted him and liked him or I doubt he would be here.who the heck is that?Looks like a training camp body to me.
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I'm hoping the Colts were just confirming a point I've made here many times before. Mike Pollack does not have the talent to be our next starting Center. A.Q. Shipley's signing solidifies our C position, but does this mean that Saturday will not be re-signed? I hope not. I would hate it if Saturday doesn't retire as a lifetime Colt. He has personified this team more than anybody else over the last 12 years or so. He's really become a huge part of the Indianapolis community and is well liked here by everyone. I hope Irsay steps up and makes it happen for him and the fans.
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Freeney's not a fee agent, though. I do have to wonder where they will put him, however. With Freeney and Mathis' speed and agility, maybe they can drop a few pounds and play the linebacker positions like J. Harrison and L. Woodley for the Steelers? Can they also cover an occasional receiver? Nevis is not your classic 3-4 NT either, but maybe they can still figure out how to make it work. With another stout ILB to pair with Angerer, maybe a mobile NT won't hurt us. I'd use a late draft pick on a NT anyway, just in case.Freeny may not even come back with 14 mil owed, for 3-4 Mathis is the guy to resign.
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Arians biggest failure was emptying the Steeler backfield and going away from the run game that powered the Steelers for years and years. The running game helps make the passing game effective. You have to make the DBs respect the run or getting separation is nearly impossible these days. I'm amazed how many completed passes over the last couple of years have had to be pinpoint accurate and reliant on receiver ability to out-physical the DB to be in position to make the catch. Eldridge may block like Heath Miller but he can't catch passes like him. Arians better be able to change his offense to suit the personnel because it doesn't work in the other direction.Our identity on the O-line is no secret and because of the lack of production from Painter, we had to resort to more I formations and other means to manufacture drives on offense. It may or may not continue, it moved us a few notches up from bottom dweller on offense but by no means did having the FB help us light it up by any means, we still were deficient in the passing game.
I honestly feel that we go more empty backfield with Eldridge blocking a lot like Heath Miller once the QB masters the system. Again, a big IF but I am sure at some point, you are going to see WRs spread out with an empty backfield with Arians' offense.
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I'm not happy that Clyde may be leaving. He really helped incorporate the run into the Colt offense last year and did a fine job considering he was missing Manning and had no decent QB for more than half the season. Colts should not let him get away.Bears writer for the Chicago Tribune:
@vxmcclure23
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I think Wade likes that southern cookin'. Seems like every job he's held has been down south or southwest.I could get on the Wade train. He's already on record saying he wants to be a HC again. Plus, he knows how to beat the Texans D. He wasn't the problem in Dallas, we know that now.
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If I were Jim Irsay, I'd interview Marty Schottenheimer before making my final selection for a new HC.
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I got no trouble with Tressel as HC, but I got nuked on here when I mentioned him as a possible candidate on the day of Polian's firing and everyone was expecting Caldwell to be fired next. He's from a family steeped in football experience and was extremely successful at Ohio St. Regardless of who is HC, if we draft Luck, we need a West Coast Offense guru as OC. Luck's athleticism makes him a perfect West Coast QB IMHO. He could be a straight drop-back passer, but I think that would waste some of his talents.Big deal that Tressel didn't sell out a couple of his players because they got free tats and they sold some memorabilia. Im glad the Colts don't make these decisions with college bias.
WAYNE BRAVES NEW WORLD
in Colts.com News
Posted
Of all the off-season moves the Colts made, the only one that gives me pause is the selection of Bruce Arians as offensive coordinator. I have nothing against the man and, for the sake of the Colts, hope he does a tremendous job. I really picture Andrew Luck as a West Coast Offense type of QB. He is versatile enough to play just about any system, but I feel a variation of the old 49er version of the WCO is his absolute best fit. Arians' system is very different and, so far, has seen only limited success in the NFL. Much of Steeler success was because they dominated on defense.