[Colts sign tommie harris]

For the record, that was vs Hutchinson (most of the time), one of the top 2 LG in the NFL for the past 10 years or so.

[Jerry Hughes]

Hughes was drafted because the Colts need(ed) an effective 3rd rusher because they had just learned a couple of months before what happens when you lose one of the Frathis brothers.

That part has often been what some people have awnsered me (basically the only thing) when I kept questionning the drafting of Hughes in the 1st round 1.5 year ago.

Where this stops making sense tho is: Is either Freeney or Mathis injury prone? The awnser is no. They could get injured this year but thats irrelevant. The question is, 'till now, has either players been having health issues.

If the reasonning is "but we saw what happen when 1 is missing", then why dont BP draft a QB? After all, what happens if PM goes down? The offense lost a step when they lost their best offensive player (besides PM) last season (Clark). Why didnt BP drafted a TE in the first round in the last draft? Of course it wouldnt have made any sense. Now, apply that same logic to the DE. Why did it made any sense to draft a DE in the first round to backup 2 pro bowlers in their prime just because, Freeney got injured late in a season in which the Colts got to the SB?

It makes no sense, period.

What makes some sense however is, considering how bad the DT position has been for the Colts for the past decade (baring 1.5 year: Simon/Booger), why doesnt it make sense to fix the issue once and for all?

The issue years after years have been the same on D: no push up the middle from the DTs giving the option for opposing QBs to simply step up in the pocket once Frathis get around the edges (Pats began donig this vs Colts years ago and its been copied by alot of teams since then) and pathetic DT play vs the run, which means LBs and safeties often serve as 1st line of defense (instead of 2nd and 3rd line of defense). This means more injuries to those undersized players and also, since the Colts organization dont believe in paying OLBs (I have np with that philosophy btw as long as its done properly), we get a revolving door there and the issue is the same yearly: OLBs constantly in the wrong gaps.

Get NFL caliber DTs in the middle and you'll see this:

-that Frathis will suddenly become even more effective

-that even if 1 of the Frathis duet gets injured, the D will still be somewhat effective because, there will still be push up the middle due to competent DTs

After all, how many Ds in the NFL have 2 pro bowlers DEs in their prime? The awnser is, only 1. That goes to show you there's more to a D than DEs.

Conversely, each good D in the league has a great DT (for 3-4) or a great DT and another above average DT (for 4-3) in their lineup.

This shows you can have a good/great D without having dominant DEs. I dont know of a good/great D with crappy DT play however.

[Jerry Hughes]

All very good points, but perhaps they drafted Hughes expecting to not re-sign Mathis when his contract comes up. If Hughes comes into form and Mathis doesn't get re-signed then it was a smart move. It's very clear that DE is probably the most important position on defense to the Colt's front office so bringing in Mathis' replacement a couple years early to let him learn and adjust to the pro game. If this is not the scenario then I agree with you completely. Oh and I'm not at all saying I want to see Mathis leave. I'm just speculating that this might have been the rationale in drafting Hughes with a 1st round pick when there were other needs to address.

Similar to when they moved up in the draft to bring in Ugoh. Some people questioned the move since we already had a solid starter at LT in Tarik Glenn, but the FO wanted to bring in Glenn's replacement ahead of time instead of waiting until Glenn actually moved on. I think probably the biggest reason Ugoh wound up being a bust for us was the fact that Glenn retired before the next season so Ugoh never had a chance to learn behind Glenn as the FO had planned. Instead he was forced into the role before he was ready and he crumbled.

As for Donald Brown...I agree with you completely.

I hope they dont sign Wayne and let Mathis walk. Mathis is far more important than Wayne is. Thats, based on the position each plays and also the skill of each players. I can live with Wayne receiving a new contract after this year of say 2 or 3 years, but based on his play in the last 2 years, it looks like he'll be good for another 3 years max (counting this year) and thats reaching a bit, seeing how he's slowed down in the last 2 years. I'm not referring here to stats but anyone who's been watching the Colts games last few years can easily see Wayne has lost a step, something that cant be said about Mathis.

The Ugoh example is an accurate one and I personnally never questionned that pick because of Glenn's age at the time and the position he played. He had been talking about retirement for about 2 years already, always saying he didnt envisioned himself playing 'till his middle 30s.

Mathis was 29 (or so?) when Hughes was drafted. Considering how pathetic the DT spot has been for the last 5 years or so, I still dont get, to this day, why they didnt either drafted a DT at the spot they were, traded up to get one of the top DT in the draft, traded down to get multiples picks and therefore, pick a DT or 2, along with a speedy DE (I'm prety sure Hughes would've fallen to the 2nd round anyway) or simply trade that #1 (or a 2nd or 3rd) for an established/proven DT in the league.

As for Brown, well... As the ad say: what can Brown do for you?

Apparently, he cant run the ball for you

[Defense]

if we can get consistent pressure from the front four, our current secondary will be just fine

Last year, the Jets WRs abused the Colts secondary in that playoff game. The fact Sanchez isnt a very good QB and missed alot of wide open WRs for big plays/TDS shouldn't be forgotten.

The score at the end made the game look closer than it really was. Had the Colts played vs a team with just an average QB, it'd have been ugly.

[Jerry Hughes]

Notes from yesterday's practices:

I personally take this with a HUGE grain of salt, but it seems Jerry Hughes has looked good in camp. He's in shape and looks quick. He's working with the second team defense, and he was, by several accounts, blowing by Jeff Linkenbach.

So were players from nearly all the teams the Colts played last year

[Jerry Hughes]

I think a lot of people have issues with him because he's a first round pick who never saw the field last year, and in their minds they equate that with "He didn't play because he sucks" and I don't think that's the case. While I don't agree with the way we handled Hughes last year, by no means do I think that it indicates he is a bust...

The issue people can/could have on Hughes isnt Hughes himself. He's irrelevant, just like Brown. The issue is, why waste a #1 on a backup?

Regardless of whether Brown was gonna be better than Addai or not, that was irrelevant. The facts are/were:

-Colts are a pass offense first

-Addai isnt a bad runner at all

-Chances of Brown being better than Addai at PBK were of about 0% considering Addai's 1 of the top 3 better PBK backs in the league, something the Colts offense has been relying on for the last decade

Moving on to Hughes, drafting him in the first round didnt made any sense when you consider the following:

-2 pro-bowlers at DE already on the team, both in their prime, neither having shown injuries issues in the past(aka, missing a year or so and requiring knees surgeries or something)

-NCAA caliber DTs on the roster

-weak tackles (LT and RT)

The drafting of Hughes would've made sense if:

-Either Mathis or Freeney were just average DEs and Hughes was exactly what the Colts needed, which in the current situation, isnt the case

-Had the Colts not have other glaring holes on the roster (DT, LT, RT), getting a 1st rounder at DE to backup 2 pro-bowlers would've made some sense

-Either Freeney or Mathis would've shown, thru the years, to have been very prone to injuries (having required surgeries and stuff, aka, The Eraser)

-Either Freeney or Mathis would've been 33-34 and the drafting of Hughes would've been to replace either aging DE in a year or 2

What happened is nothing mentionned above. The only way this pick makes sense is because they have been thinking of letting Mathis walf after the upcoming season which would be foolish.

In the past, when I've wrote this on the old Colts board (as Brown and Hughes were drafted), all people would say is "in BP we trust" and the old references of "PM over Leaf" and "Edge over Ricky".

Really, thats the only argument?

[A Few DT's Worth a Look]

That's funny Harris, Hayenesworth, and Wilfork all for the NT job. Plus their a 3-4 defense. Something can't fit...

Dont worry, BB will adjust his D to fit Haynesworth, if he's in shape and has his mind in playing football that is. A few years ago, the Pats did play a fair bit of 4-3.

As far as the subject of the topic, I dont see Franklin signing for less than 5M a year on a long term deal so he would be too expensive for the Colts management who dont believe in good DT play. Harris has played for years in a system similar to what Dungy used in Indy and was very effective in it, until a bunch of injuries. He has slown down and the system in Indy isnt the same as it used to be but alot of stuff is still very similar to what was used in the Dungy days, so adding Harris for what he'll likely cost, cant hurt.

I'm sure he'll sign a 3M/1 year or something somewhere and he's much better than any DT on the current Indy roster. Considering the DT spot has been very weak for the last 5 years or so, I'm hoping the Polians will sign Harris to a 1 year contract (maybe 2).

Jenkins would've been nice but he was always gonna be a bit expensive, not that he got overpaid by the Eagles.

It seems the Colts management do not value the DT position at all. They seem to only care about DEs, safeties and starting CBs. A good DT or 2 would help those bad to average LBs who come and go every year it seems.

And they wonder why all those safeties, CBs and LBs get injured that much every years (its been a real issue since about 4 years for the Colts): if you ask those smallish players to play the run that much, you're bound to see them get injured.

The Buccs were a dominant D because of DT play primarly. Obviously, Sapp's hard to find in today's NFL. The Ravens D was losing its edge about 6 years ago due to bad DT play and they fixed the issue by drafting Ngata. Harris was a great DT around 04-05-06, the best years the Bears D have had in the last decade. Hampton has been dominant for years with the Steelers. Kris Jenkins made the Panthers D dominant around 02-03 (along with Peppers, but Jenkins was the main man) and few years ago, he did very well for the Jets.

I never understood why BP has refused to address the DT situation considering how helpful Booger was in that SB year.

[Tatupu]

The issue is DT, not MLB.

[Hayden & Muir cut, Hayden to meet w/Redskins and Muir signs with Rams]

see ya Dan. It's funny he's only taking up 500K this year if he stayed, but now he takes up 1.85M with the Rams. They must be desperate.

They indeed must be desperate if he's to start with them, which I doubt. With the cap space they got, a 1 year deal for depth makes sense. He should be looking for a new team by next year tbh.

[Petition to sign Lofa Tatupu!!]

Since a decade, baring about 1.5 year, the issue has been the DT position. Lewis in his prime could be playing MLB for them Colts and it (almost ) wouldnt change a thing.

Lewis himself whined to the Ravens coaches/FO about 6-7 years ago and wanted them to get better DT play (or else he'd leave Baltimore, tho that part was more about contract negociations I'd say), which they did by drafting Ngata a year later. If the best MLB of the last 20 years needed help in front of him, then the same applies to whomever plays MLB for the Colts.

Brackett isnt the issue. The issue is in front of him, aka, bottom 5 DTS since a decade or so.