NewColtsFan

Thanks. One other question out of curiosity…. Im guessing you’re a business owner, or you’re upper management in a very successful business? Seems your perspectives were either from ownership or upper management. I’ve been middle management and worker bee and was trying to offer that perspective. It may be why we didn’t see eye to eye? Appreciate the exchange….

For your consideration and discussion…. Im listing players by position: QB Williams Maye TBA LT Fashanu Alt Latham WR Harrison TE Brockers DE Verse Turner While I left room for one additional QB to make the top-10, there may even be another QB or two who emerge for perhaps a total of 4-5.

I could be wrong but you now appear to be trying to lay a foundation that SS was a questionable hire to be HC. That he hasn’t done enough and his hiring by Ballard is risky. If I’m wrong, feel free to say so. But here’s what I don’t think you’ve noticed across the NFL…. In the last 6 years, look at the following young head coaches hired. Sean McVay Rams Brandon Staley Chargers Matt LeFluer. Packers Zac Taylor. Bengals Mike McDaniel. Dolphins DeMeco Ryans. Texans Nick Sirianni. Eagles Shane Steichen. Colts That’s eight head coaches, a quarter of the NFL. All under 40 when hired, and if you look at their resume you’ll see that none of them had much coordinator experience…. 1-3 years for most, if not all. That’s it. Owners and GMs are trusting their franchise to young coaches without that much high level experience. Steichen’s experience (3 years OC with 2 franchises) is roughly equal to all the other new young coaches. But don’t take my word for it. Check out their history on their wiki page or the page on the team website, so it’s easily available. FWIW: I used to oppose the hiring of such young and inexperienced head coaches. Too soon, too fast. Turns out, I’m wrong. Most every coach on that list is very successful. If we’re lucky, Steichen will be very good as well. But there’s nothing wrong with the hiring.

Interesting. Once again you don’t even acknowledge the loss of severance if he quits as you have repeatedly recommended. So I’m guessing you’re ignoring that argument. And I appreciate you not trying to explain my former career to me. But from my perspective, your first paragraph says “I get it.” But your last four paragraphs says you don’t get it at all. Not even a little. So, I’ve tried to explain and offer some context, but now I’m done. Pointless.

Richardson should happen in the next few days. But the QBs situation is almost always unique. What don’t get are Brents and Downs. The Colts almost never have 2nd and 3rd round draft picks hold out this long. I don’t know if they’re getting bad advice from their agents, but based on the Colts history of dining their picks quickly, it would appear the issue is on the player side and not on the team side. Given that both Brents and Downs seemed thrilled and thankful to be taken by the Colts I think this is both surprising and disappointing.

Here’s what you don’t seem to be recognizing…. The job for Kravitz changed. He’s been doing one job for nearly his entire 40+ year career, and at the end, his job changed. They asked him to financially justify his own job. He was asked to do something he had never done before. Once upon a time, companies used to have an entire department of sales people to do the new part of Kravitz’s job. Those sales people are gone. Kravitz now has to do that in addition to his job as a reporter. It’s one thing if you’re a 20-something or 30-something…. But Kravitz is a 60-something. He’s a dinosaur. You’re incredibly casual or glib to be flippantly tossing out comments like “maybe not the job for him”. My apologies to you for trying to make a point earlier with my analogy of being killed or committing suicide. I was trying to shock you into the world of Bob Kravitz. I even tried to make a point about quitting and losing his severance package if he quits, and you ignored that. You basically asked Kravitz to give up a severance check likely worth thousands of dollars plus any medical benefits. It stunned me that you had no reaction to that. In short, there were no good options for Kravitz. His choices were between bad and worse. Knowingly or not, you were saying to Kravitz that if he didn’t like his bad option he could always take your worse option, to quit. Having a life changing moment in your early 60’s when retirement is so near is an incredibly scary position to be in. A little compassion would’ve been nice. “Maybe not the job for him” misses the moment as badly as possible. Sorry.

I don’t even know where to begin? Almost none of what you say makes an ounce of sense. You’re basically saying if Kravitz knew he was going to get killed (fired) why didn’t he just kill himself (quit) and beat them to the punch? As I’ve already explained, it’s not like there are lots of options for him and you’re unmoved. Why you don’t believe him is a mystery to me? I doubt you’re even aware that for the vast majority of Kravitz’s career he didn’t have to find or raise 400 subscriptions. This is all a new tech approach to media. It’s fine if you’re young and it’s all you know. But it’s hard and scary if you’ve never had to do it but then suddenly your job and career depend on it. Im for an informed public. More media is better whether it’s moderate, liberal or conservative. Every job is important.

“Could have quit just the same”…. ? The man is in his 60’s…. Media jobs are evaporating with incredible speed. If he quits, not only does he lose severance, where do you think he goes? Do you think there are a lot of journalism jobs out there looking for a Bob Kravitz? If what he says is true, the man was treated like crap. I don’t understand those who didn’t like Kravitz. I think all the local print/internet media who cover the Colts are at least decent except one — Greg Doyel. I think he’s bad AND obnoxious. Bad combination.

Yes…. Steichen’s viewpoint is the Great Unknown. We will have a better idea about JT and MP by week one of the season. Ballard has always gotten the extensions done by then, if not sooner.

The Colts have tried to extend players on the last year of their rookie contract. They did it with guys like luck and Hilton, as well as guys like Nelson, Leonard, Smith and Hines. There’s a clear track record. Taylor and Pittman are now in their last year of their rookie contract. Of course they’d like to be extended. They’d get their signing bonus money now, up front, and a portion of the new contract would be guaranteed. Anyone in their right mind would want their second contract ASAP. EXCEPT, and unless the offer in the second contract is BELOW the expected market rates. And that’s why we have holdouts and contract disputes all across the NFL.

Well…. Leonard has been doing this since his first day as a Colt. This didn’t start in Y4. So I think it’s clear and obvious what the Colts prefer. And the Colts posted a graphic on the front if this website after each of Shaq’s first four seasons. And they showed how each year was not only the best in the league for LBers, but they were the best in league history for LBers by far. Im talking total tackles, turnovers forced, turnovers recovered and on and on. So I’m not in the camp that says Y4 was Shaq’s best. He had four straight great years. Unprecedented years. I simply don’t understand anyone criticizing him for his style of play. It’s clearly team approved. It doesn’t matter what other teams or DCs prefer.

The Peanut Punch ISNT a tackling technique. It’s only purpose is to try and force a turnover. The players coming in behind Leonard are trying for the tackle. Sometimes Leonard is going for the tackle, it’s clear and obvious. And other times he’s going for the forced fumble, it’s clear and obvious. But they’re not the same, they’re not interchangeable. And Ballard and the DC’s approve. They want to force as many turnovers as possible.

Well…. First off, JT is already on the team. Second, I’d rather have HT than Cook. Just as the NYG would rather have Barkley over Cook. Third, look at what I wrote that you hi-listed…. I wrote, if you remove money. Just talking about the player. Cook is only available because of money. The issue with JT is about money. How many off-seasons is there a player if Cook’s ability available at this time of year? Isn’t this pretty close to the first time? The people I was responding to don’t think much of Taylor. They think most any running back can replace him. I do not.

How are these that much different than the so-called “color rush” uni’s the teams wear once a year the last few seasons? Inquiring minds want to know? Edit: Are the helmets really black? Or are they just really very dark blue? Honest question. Edit2: Couldn't tell about the helmets based on the Twitter pick in this thread. But I’ve now seen the pick on the front of the website. And they are indeed black. I’d take them once a year, but that’s all.

Good post. And I agree to an extent. I liked both a lot before the draft and would’ve been happy if we had drafted only one. So I was thrilled the Colts were able to draft both. Even happier when the Colts triple-downed with Jones. But at the end of the day, even with his injury, Brents went 44th, and Rush went 138th. I know corner was a loaded class and someone slipping was inevitable, but still. I know Ballard said the Colts strongly considered Rush with their picks in the 4th, but even so, the difference would’ve still been roughly 60+ picks if the Colts had, so the NFL has spoken pretty loudly about the difference in the players. As it is, the difference was nearly 100 picks. Final thought…. You’re correct in pointing to Brents crazy good vert and broad jumps. But I’d also include Brents 3-cone time. I believe it was the fastest of the corner group, and among the fastest for all the players regardless of position. So I think Brents overall athleticism is somewhat under-rated by some in our community. Again, appreciate your perspective and the exchange.

Good post. Good explanation. Im guessing a guy like Barkley might miss a game or two hoping the Giants might cave to demands if the team struggles at the start. I know there’s a point in the season that a player does not get credit toward their pension and toward earning credit for the season on their contract. I think it’s roughly the mid-way point of the season +/-. At that point, I think a player like Barkley has to show up. There’s just too much to lose. More than just a ton of money which is considerable as it is. And of course, the same goes for JT. I think he might be a camp hold out for this year which is the last year of his rookie deal. But I’m guessing he shows up for the regular season. Guys like Barkley and Taylor are really good kids. Smart kids. Leveon Bell? Not so much.

Im expecting the team to struggle. I think Irsay and Ballard and Steichen will be looking for other things. How well coached does the team look? How hard do they play? How is the plan for AR working? 0-3 shouldn’t change things. I think the team will give SS and the QB’s more than three games before changing the approach to the season.

The comparison is not apples to apples. Manning started for 3.5 seasons at Tenn. Luck started for 3 seasons at Stanford. Both guys were ready to start week one in the NFL. Richardson started just 13 games, which is completely different. He’s not close to being ready. At least not based on the publicly based info. He needs time, patience and a special program that brings him along at an appropriate pace. Throwing him in the deep end and telling him to swim isn’t a modern day plan. It’s barely a plan for a unique talent like AR at all. Irsay has to fight his worst instincts if he wants the best results. Let Steichen and Ballard do their jobs and support their decisions.

They’re paid well because the league is swimming in Billions of dollars. And they play this game better than 99.99 percent of the people on this planet. They are not easily replaceable. They have a very short career span and will likely have health issues for decades long after their careers are over. In short, I think they earn every penny they get.

Record setting numbers? No one has floated those type of numbers as of yet. As for numbers close to that, the devil is in the details. How much is guaranteed? How many years? And Ballard has always stressed that players have different value to different teams. And he’s ok losing players to others teams if those teams offer more. So it’s also possible that some players may be worth more money to Ballard and the Colts than they are to other teams. All that said…. You’re right that it appears likely that talks with Taylor are not going the way JT had hoped. He seems very unhappy.

Great site. There’s lots of great info and most of it is FREE! Always worth checking out.

If Irsay wants AR to perform at a high level, he needs to let Steichen handle the situation. Playing AR more sooner does NOT automatically mean AR will get better sooner. And I think everyone in the Colts organization knows that. If it was as simple as playing AR more sooner then they could’ve already announced AR is starting week one. But they haven’t done that yet. So I’ll remain modestly optimistic until Irsay gives me reason not to be.

Wanting AR to play and ORDERING Steichen to play AR more are two different things. One would think Irsay will have weekly meetings with Steichen and Ballard during camp so that he’s prepared for the worst. Irsay can’t panic and step-in. Irsay can’t be viewed to over-riding his new head coach. It would be yet another terrible thing to do. Coming off the Saturday debacle, Irsay has to get back to a hands-off approach. Better for both his reputation and that of his franchise. Irsay has to trust the people he hired and put in charge. Period.

Plenty of responses…. Most seem to be on the favorable side. I have a minority view. I don’t think Shaq looked fluid or comfortable or fast or even quick. That said, it looked to me like he was working out on what might’ve been a really crappy high school field, and that might’ve impacted his performance. Bottom line, nerve injuries are tricky and it’s hard to know how things will progress. But I’m not optimistic he’ll be ready by the end of training camp. I hope I’m wrong.

Taylor is NOT Earl Campbell. Far from it. Someone in this thread posted Taylor’s 2021 best runs from his 1800 yard season. He doesn’t look anything like Earl Campbell. Not at all. Feel free to watch it. I did. There’s plenty of creativity for all to see if you’re willing to look.