Superman

It's clear and obvious. He said it plainly. The way the fans/media perceive the need at corner is very different from the way the Colts perceive the need at corner.

I had Goncalves in my mock, in the 4th round. Basically in range. I like the pick, I assume his foot is fine, he said as much, and he worked out at his pro day. Big dude, nice feet, good technique in pass pro, can get stronger to improve in the run game, technically sound for the most part. I wanted two things on offense this offseason: 1) A dynamic pass catcher, and 2) Depth/competition on the OL, specifically a swing tackle/guard. I was hoping for a veteran OL in addition to a draft pick, but we re-signed Pinter, so I guess we can count that. And as a bonus, Drew Ogletree is back on the roster, after I thought he was for sure going to be gone. IMO, the offense is ready to roll. I was worried that Plan A at WR -- get a guy in the second round -- was shot after the way Thursday night went. Plan A wound up working out nicely. The secondary could still use some work. I would have liked to see an athletic boost with a boundary corner, but this wasn't really the draft for that. And while I'm not sure what will happen after the draft, there are a ton of veteran corners and safeties still available. Including Justin Simmons and Quandre Diggs, whom everyone wanted on Day 1 on free agency. So maybe we still add some veteran help. We also have one 4th round pick, and then three 5th rounders all bunched up from #142 to #155. Ballard already traded out of the 6th, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him either trade out of the 7th, or trade down in a swap that also moves him up higher from one of the 4th/5th round picks. He might want to keep a pick in the 7th just to grab their favorite UDFA target...

I don't have a problem with Ballard going to bat for his guys, or any young player, and I mostly agree with what he said. I'm also glad he said it. However, AD Mitchell had a sloppy Combine, and said some things in his presser that could be interpreted as him not giving full effort every down (I think the comments were innocuous). I think it would have been good for Ballard to address some of those things, or for the questions to get more specific about some of the concerns. Including the diabetes. The questions they asked AD tonight were, mostly, garbage. Four or five different versions of 'are you mad you didn't get drafted sooner' that were all met with the same energy from AD. Sometimes this group of reporters is like a dog with a bone, just won't let go of a certain angle. Asked and answered, let's move on guys.

Especially if your blood sugar is low.

I think @stitches is running the draft room...

My expectations have always been for the Colts to add a really promising WR prospect sometime on Day 2. I'm starting to think that might not happen. The late run on WRs kind of sucked the value out of the second round, IMO. There are some guys, but a couple that I thought would be there are gone already, and I bet a couple more go early tonight. Plan A has been severely compromised. Beyond that, I could easily see DeJean or Cooper being BPA when we're on the clock, and if so, those picks would make perfect sense. And we're still without a significant add at WR. So if it goes that way over the next couple days, I wonder what Plan B would be. Find a trade for a young guy, maybe Drake London? Maybe a Diggs-like deal for someone that isn't on our radar? Any chance the Bears are thinking about moving DJ Moore?

I think Reich was broken by the beginning of 2022, so I don't know if there was any pairing that would have worked for him. But Stroud would have been the best bet.

This all tracks logically. You're still presenting your hunch as substantiated fact, which is the only reason for my resistance.

I pushed back on the Tepper forced the Bryce Young pick thing, and still do. That's because it comes with the assumption that Reich didn't want Bryce Young, which isn't substantiated. If you tell me that Tepper was heavily involved in the pick, I have no problem. It's when it goes to 'there's no way Reich wanted Young' that I ask for something other than your gut feeling to support that conclusion.

Yeah, I'm good with the pick. I wasn't exactly jumping up and down, but I think it was the obvious choice for us.

https://www.wbtv.com/2024/04/26/let-coach-gm-pick-panthers-owner-pays-charlotte-restaurant-surprise-visit-before-draft/ Big yikes on this dude...

Yeah, nsurg with the best post of the year, IMO. Relating it to Manning was very helpful. With the surgery in the past and his recovery being obvious from his on field performance, we can consider the operation a success at this point. Still, cervical fusion makes me wonder about spinal stenosis, future arthritis, etc. By the way, Danielle Hunter had a fusion in 2020. We've seen him bounce back. Performed by Dr. Watkins, same doctor that operated on Manning and Latu. So no doubt the Colts were thorough before making this decision. Edit: Leighton Vander Esch was born with spinal stenosis.

I'm back and forth on whether they tried to trade out. I'm sure they would have considered a great offer that didn't require moving down more than 4-5 spots, but the only team that traded up was the Vikings, and they were all the way down at #23. But the fact that they could take their highest rated defender at #15 -- and this is the one situation where you know this isn't bogus GM speak, because he was literally the first defender off the board -- is probably exciting. They really lucked out, IMO.

Around the three minute mark, he starts talking about being medically retired by Washington. He got injured, and while he was still working through his options for surgery and recovery, the program told him they were going to medically retire him. Before he got the surgery! He has the operation, then goes out and plays rugby two months after a cervical fusion. That's the Poly way. He had an offer from a pro rugby team in Seattle, but turned it down to keep playing football. So yeah, it's right to be concerned by the fusion and his recovery, but it's seeming like the medical retirement was overblown because of how Washington chose to handle it.

I'm no fan of the way Bradley runs this scheme, but for it to work as designed, you have to be able to get consistent pass rush with the front four. Adding another good edge definitely helps get you closer to that goal. And we'll see how Partridge helps, I know his reputation is great, but let's see how it goes. Once the 6 (SIX!!!!) QBs were gone, there was no way to predict what the Raiders would do. I don't even think the fans can be mad, they didn't really have a chance to trade up for a QB, and Bowers is a good prospect. I guess Bowers could have been the trade-up target for the Colts also, I just assume it was a WR, and Odunze is the one that was in range.