loudnproudcolt
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Posts posted by loudnproudcolt
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Sam is a quality person, and he has said he does not want to be a center of attention, he wants his football to talk for him. I also think that the generation he is coming from is much more comfortable with the subject of someone being gay. If he can help the team, that is the end of it. I agree though, a strong organization would be best for him, one that would not let it be a Tebow type of situation.
I think what speaks louder than any words is that Missouri had a chance at the national championship basically going into the last two games if memory serves. Why does this matter. Because Sam at a group building exercise in August came out and told everyone he was gay. Many already knew. So in this age of twitter, FB and instant everything until now we hear not one word of this. The whole team rallied around him, said nothing, and the team was incredible, and this is the SEC! Now I have heard that the certain members said things over the course of the season, but no surprise. The fact that it did not get out, and how they competed says all I need to know. I think that is the bigger story of how Sam is perceived.
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Cleveland has been in football hell for years. I really thought they would get better when Haslam came as the new owner since he had some experience as a minoritiy owner with Pittsburgh. I truly feel bad for the town.
Since then, in two years he has put the hammer down on everyone. When he first arrived, you expect him to fire staff and bring in his own people, Banner who brought in Lombardi, Chudzinski. I never thought Chud would get fired after one year, and after today, I don't know what is going on since he fired everyone except the assistant GM, so he could be the new GM after turning down the Dolphins. Remember this is right before the combine also.
The reason I started this thread though has to do with free agents and Cleveland. Everyone wants Mack to be our center. The question is will he hit the market. I do not think so, and I believe he is going to be franchised. If they don't franchise him though, he will hit the market. The word going around seems to be they are not only having trouble getting coaches to interview, but players in FA, and have to overpay to get them there. So if you are Mack, with all that happened this year and the offseason, if you are not franchised, would you stay? It will be really interesting to see what happens once FA starts since they have 46Million in cap space. That in itself says how tough it is to get FA there. Remember how much they spent on Kruger last year, and how that turned out. They have to overpay to get prospects there. The question is, if they don't franchise Mack, how much will he want?
Any thoughts I would love to hear. I just thought it was interesting since I did not believe the Browns could shock me anymore, and they did it again today. As I said earlier, I feel bad for Cleveland. They are great fans, but they have to be saying to themselves if I am a FA, would I want to sign with the Browns.
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I posted a couple of thoughts about Seattle over on the FA forum, but I thought I would bring it over here, because it shows how judicious you need to be about your cap and spending. Additionally, if Seattle is going to win the SB, it needs to be this year or next, since I see a dropoff due to cap space. Look at Seattle's roster, and you just look how loaded they are, especially the defense. When healthy, the offensive line is good, but they need receivers, IMHO. Part of the reason is they brought in some high priced talent this year, plus they also have a lot of drafted talent that they did great homework on, and got steals. The only problem is, that drafted talent is now going to mean an exodus of talent over the next year or two, they can't keep it all.
They only have 3M in cap space next year. Now I am guessing they will release Sydney Rice, Cliff Avril or Cris Clemmons, and that puts them about at 20M in cap space. There major problem is going to be Russell Wilson and Richard Sherman, and i am sure they would like to keep both, the problem is money. Wilson being a 3rd rounder will be in the last year of his contract, with 4th year option. Below 1st round, only 3 yr. contracts with option for fourth year. So regardless of what happens in SB, they are going to need to extend Wilson next year, probably after the season. He is going to demand at least Cutler money, so lets say around 18M, even though he does not have a long track record, he is going to get paid, the intangibles and tangibles are evident. Sherman was a 5th round pick. I don't know how, but he was. I have Sherman is not too fond of Harbaugh, as he believes something he said was the reason for the drop. Regardless, this is his option year, so they are going to have to pay him if they want to keep him. If Revis got 16M from TB, what does Sherman get. The two of them together will command around 30-35M in salary cap space, about 1/4 of the cap right now. So do they keep Sherman? I believe they have extended Chancellor, I am not sure about Earl Thomas, but he was a first round pick, and this is his last year, entering option year next year. I don't think he has been extended and he is going to command a lot. He is one of the top safeties out there. Browner may be suspended next year, but he is appealing that. Lets assume he is not suspended for the whole year. So he will be a FA, and demand huge money. Then look on the offensive side, which except for Wilson, not the strongest side. Okung, their best O linemen is going into his option year I believe w/out extension. Golden Tate and Doug Baldwind are FA, two of there starting WR's. Hauschka, who is a really good kicker is a FA. Go up and down their roster, all the names and talent, and you see they are going to have to make some really hard decisions.
Looking at how good they are, but all the talent and their salary cap situation just reinforces what good shape we are in considering our cap space. We have Luck for two more years before his option year when we will extend, in addition to most of that draft class, but we are in really good shape regardless going into 2015 and beyond. If I am the Colts, I would be on the lookout for players coming out of Seattle the next few years. They will still be a very good team, simply because they have a QB, and we know how much that matters, but they are going to have to make some very tough decisions over the next year.
What would you guys do? You know you are keeping Wilson, would you also keep Sherman considering the cap impacts. What about the rest of the secondary. They are a really interesting team to examine when you look at the talent, but the decisions they will have to make in who to keep and let go. Just thought it was interesting since I am looking at FA. How about Vontae with Sherman?
That would be a beautiful pairing!Just don't know if i can shell out that kind of money on anyone except a QB until the cap goes up significantly.
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As good as there D looks right now, if they are going to win the Superbowl, they better do it this year. After this year, they are going to have major cap problems. They have only eM for next year. They will cut Sydney Rice I am guessing, plus Avril or Clemmons, and that will give them about 17M going into next year. The major problem for them is two fold. Wilson is going into his 3rd season, and as a 3rd round pick, only 3 years are guaranteed, with the fourth year option. So they are going to need to extend him next year, and he will be paid a bundle. Then there defense, Browner is going to get paid, do not know about the suspension, but I don't think it will be a year, and he will get big money. Sherman same deal, next year is his last, and if Revis demanded 16M/yr. what does Sherman command. Think about just Sherman/Wilson. The two of them could cost upwards of 36M/yr. if they keep both of them. They just cannot keep that defense intact. All the acquisitions they made this year, many were rents for one year. They are going to have to release key players into FA next year and the next!
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Whenever you look at a trade, you can't look at it in a vacumn. You need to look at the team. Hughes was not in a scheme he liked, plus he is playing with Williams on one side, there other defensive end is Anderson i believe who is very good, and there nose tackle who i can't remember the name was the number three pick two years ago from Alabama and is a beast. There line demands a lot of attention, and has freed up Hughes for blitzes and one on ones. He has played really well, but scheme has made a difference. Same reason I did not want to spend a ton of money on Kruger last year, and I am glad we did not. With Ngata Hali, Suggs, Ray Lewis, and others, they had a great front seven which freed up Kruger, inflating his numbers. You always need to consider this when signing FA's, and I am glad to say we did last year. Offensive line is much easier to evaluate. Scheme matters, zone or man to man, but easier to judge. We did a really good job of signing many last year at good cost, although we overpaid Cherilus a little, but he has been very good. Everyone gave us such grief for Walden, but the reason Grigs and Pagano wanted him was he set the side. They could judge that skill, and the 4M which seemed excessive turned out to be a good acquisition. FA and what team they are on, scheme they play in, and who they play besides needs to be considered as much sometimes as the player themselves!
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On RJF, I agree he has been very average, and I would cut him. He gives us a cap savings of $3.25 million. Definitely cut Satele. His cap savings number is 4 million, so that brings us up to about 46M in cap space. I had thought about cutting Toler. I like him but he is injury prone. His release would give us another 4M in cap and up to 50M. I would like to see what the Dolphins are going to offer Grimes, and think about dropping Toler for Grimes, and although he would earn more, it would not be a big cap hit if we release Toler. Then get De La Puente, and I like the idea of Maclin also, plus one other solid guard, depending on who is available!
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Well Bridgewater is coming out, Bortles is a senior I believe, Manziel is declaring, don't know about Hundley yet (UCLA), and Derek Carr which a lot of people have not heard of much, but is getting a lot of love. The college game has changed so much, very few run pro offenses where you go through many progressions, so you really need to judge on accuracy, strength of arm, etc.
I ask the question because Houston is the number one pick, and Jacksonville is number four. They are both going to take QB's along with Cleveland, Schefter reports. St. Louis is looking to trade back the number two, so someone could move up. (Was that a great deal for St. Louis on the RGIII trade!) Personally, I think Bradford is injury prone, and not a franchise QB, and they should draft a QB, but they continue to say he is their future. We will see. Still with our division getting ready to draft two QB's who we will compete against, and history says one will be good, one will bust, 50/50 shot, who would you draft, and how do you rank the class. I think Houston goes after Bridgewater, Cleveland is behind Jacksonville, but they like Manziel according to chatter, and have the draft picks thanks to us partly to move up, and Jacksonville, not sure who I would take.
Although I like the QB's this year, it is not nearly the class of 2012 talent wise. Each one has flaws, and will get dissected through the process, but we will be facing two of them twice a year for the next several years, so I am intererested in your thoughts!
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I know we already have a couple speedy small guys who can stretch the field, TY, Rainey although hurt, but DeAndre Thomas would be fun to use. He is just so fast! Don't know how well he would hold up, but he is quicker than Tavon Austin, but not built as well. Still, another toy that late would be nice, and he is not a receiver, so we could use him in multiple formations, and let him learn the slot.
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Thanks for all the great input. I knew if anything it would only be a 6th or 7th, but any extras since we are missing two would help.
One thing no one mentioned, and I know is part of the process of figuring out how the comp. picks work is how much the free agents signed for. It goes into the calculation, Unfortunately we signed four picks, Toler,
Walden, Landry, and Cherilus to pretty good contracts, especially for Cherilus. Of course good tackles never come cheap, but that is besides the point. So, when looking at that fact, it does not bode well for us. Still I am holding out for at least one comp. pick, just do to the shear volume of FA's from last years team, and I had forgotten Avery. Thanks for everyones input!
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Hey everyone. I have been thinking about the draft lately, and since we don't have our round one pick, or our fourth round pick
, I was thinking about compensation picks and if we would have any awarded our way? We could definitely use them this year!We did have a lot of free agents leave the team last year, Freeny, Powers, Stanton, Justice, and I am sure I have missed a few others who were signed away by other teams. Anyone want to opine on whether we will have an extra 6th or 7th round pick coming our way. I know none were large signings, but we did lose a lot of faces from last years team. I appreciate the help?
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I agree with the sentiment he would be good to have and make him a guard, where I think he would good. In addition, I believe the Dolphins will waive him after the year is over, since the team will never accept him. Naturally NFL.com reports the two best places for him to land would be S.F. and Indy, both Harbaugh and Pep know his character along with former players. I am of the opinion that when Richard Sherman speaks highly of you, he is a player to have. Sherman may be a Stanford grad, but he does not mince his opinions. He hates Harbaugh, believes Harbaugh kept him from being drafted in higher rounds. Still, if released, he still would have to clear waivers I believe.
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The line really has not moved four points, only two. The line that you see that was originally 12 points comes out on Sunday night by Las Vegas Consultants, who supply it to the casinos. The casinos then use the line to look at interest on the line, and see where they believe it should be posted at. Almost all the casino. Every casino in Vegas came out with the line posted at Colts -10, except for the Hilton who had us -11. The line has fallen to -8 in many casinos, but it is still at -9 at a couple. The Colts are a very public team when it comes to betting, and when asssessing line movements, you need to look at who the public is betting on, not the line move itself if you are a bettor. The public is about 57% on the Colts side, so it just shows you the sharp money moves the lines. It also shows you why betting is very hard and if you win at above a 55% rate you are doing well.
What does this add up to. I know too much about sports betting, and just enough not to do it!
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Fitz is also injured, bad hamy which has plagued him for the last 3-4 games. Production is way down, and a hamstring can last a whole season when you keep playing on it. Plus at around 15 million a year, way too much salary cap wise, even if we had the money this year, which we don't! Still I do love the dream of him and Andrew! I bet Fitz would love to be here also.
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As I was reading a CBS Sportsline.com article (weekly overreactions) about the jets vs. patriots, and how Tom Brady has gotten a pass on what has been an underwhelming year so far, especially when you look at his stats for the year, I was directed to Pro Football Focus to look up some stats. I see many sites use their stats to measure performances, so they are highly regarded.
I looked up the Colts/Denver game and the player of the game was Vontae Davis. To show how incredible he was on Sunday night, he had the highest rating ever from PFF for a DB, setting a new PFF CB record with a +7.9 grade. Now I don't know exactly how these are done, but as the article says, this was done without any interceptions, which makes even more incredible. The guy is a beast and was glued to DT the whole night. IMH we have to wait at least until the end of the year, and maybe next year when we fill in the two week spots on the line to truly gauge the Trent Richardson trade, which does not look good right now, but I remain hopeful. We got Vontae for a 2nd, and he is showing he was worth a high 1st, so maybe it evens out a bit. The highest rating ever show though he is coming into his own, and I think he feels much more comfortable in Indy. I think Pagano and his history with DB's has really paid off here. If you want to read, here is the link:
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2013/10/21/refo-broncos-colts-week-7/
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One thing you can say about Jacksonville is they have been very unlucky in the injury department. They have been savaged by injuries on both sides of the ball, and now they are down to only two healthy receivers, Cecil Shorts and rookie Ace Sanders. Of course they have what they call the offensive weapon position of Denard Robinson, but he does not count as a WR. So with two healthy receivers, they brought in two players off of the practice squad. I have never heard of either, and considering how little time Gabbert has played, how much timing could they have. Regardless, they always seem to play us tough!
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I have two questions that I would like everyone to chime in on. First, off I am sure Pep did not show off a lot of the offense in the pre-season, but you really did not see any deep stuff with TY, DHB, or Coby although he was hurt. I would expect a lot of deep seem plays from Coby and possibly Allen, and deep balls for TY and DHB at opportune times. My question is do you agree, will that be the part of the Arians offense that is kept. I hope so because with the speed we have along with match up problems which should allow us to get deep down the seem, I would expect it, but have not seen much yet.
Second, I am wondering if we will employ the no huddle and let Andrew do the play calling and audibling at the line. We have seen if you have a great quarterback what a weapon it is. The defense gets dog tired. They cannot substitute if you don't, plus you get an extra 8-10 plays on average if you run it most of the game. I see the two fullback set, and I wonder if we will start to incorporate it more. My hope is yes, and Pep will see the advantages after looking at the Patriots, Denver, etc. I believe Luck can handle it easily due to how smart he is, so I am hoping. Thoughts on these questions I invite. We did not see much in the preseason of the no huddle and I am hoping it evolves!
Hope we spank Oakland tomorrow!
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I put a lot of relevance also in thinking of Indianapolis as a classy organization. I think it is important for the fact it represents stability. Many players who are of questionable character go to organizations who are of questionable character, and do to the lack of stability and discipline, never realize their true potential, or worse get kicked out of football completely. Stability and regimen can determine "certain" types of players future path. So yes I think it is very important.
One more thing. If you go to almost anyone in the media and ask them who is the best run organization, 9/10 will come back and say New England. We may not like it here in Indy, but that is the truth. Now look at Bill Belicheck and tell me he does not take chances on questionable characters. Hernandez, Dennard last year and was not released afteer his second DUI over the summer. Going well back, Corey Dillon. Randy Moss is a perfect example. Great player, but in Oakland he did not thrive because of the atmosphere. Went to N.E. and thrived. Yes a lot of it was because of Tom Brady, but having stability, a regimen and a standard to live up to makes a huge difference. So sometimes the classy organization may have a few troubled individuals because they feel they can get the most out of them and keep them on the straight and narrow path. Does not always work, but I don't think it Saints our image, which is very good!
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I stand corrected, it was Kenny Phillips. I guess as I was seeing big names come across the cut wire, and thinking how good the defense looked, I got them confused. Regardless, I am so glad with what we did. The point still stands, it was a shrewd move for basically a 2nd round pick.
Love Toler and Davis in press coverage. It is so much more fun to watch this defense than previous editions before pagano's arrival, and I am sure they will only continue to improve. They have only been together a short time. As more pieces are added, and they get a feel for each other, this defense could be really good the next few years.
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Maybe it is just me, but I would love to get some other opinions. I know OC don't want to show their hands in pre-season games, but it seems to me Pep is really holding back a lot of what I expect to see. I know Fleener has been hurt, along with drops, and Allen has been hurt, but I have seen no deep seam passes. Hard to throw them without your main guys, but I still think you are going to see a lot of that. Plus, I know Pep focuses more on the shorter passes, but as Andrew says, we are going to keep some of the Arians long ball in. Except for one to TY from Andrew for 27 in the Giants game and a longer one from Hasselback in the Bills or Giants game, we have not seen very much deep stuff at all. I have not seen one long Go route for DHB, although i admit I have watched only the first half of the last two games.
Regardless, it does seem to me that the offense has a lot left to put out there as far as the playbook and has chosen relatively vanilla plays most of the time, which I love! Thoughts?
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I have been looking over the wires for the names who have been cut and it took me back to the start of the 2012 season. Remember all the rumor, much of it was fact I believe, the colts were trying to trade for Kenny Phillips, CB with the cowboys at the time. Phillips was a first round pick whose salary was very affordable, but the Cowboys did not want to part with him because he was inexpensive salary wise and was their fourth corner at the time. I don't know what we were offering.
Well after a couple of repeated tries, we decided to go to Miami and go after Vontae. We gave up more in draft picks, but it has been a home run pick. Phillips went to Philadelphia this year and was considered a great pickup at a great price. He was just released, still having injury problems. I don't know if was luck, timing, or foresight, but that decision to go after Davis after pursuing Phillips was one of our smartest last year, even though Vontae was injured much of the year until late when he turned it on. With him and Toler, Bethea and Landry, I look at the defensive backfield and I can't believe how improved it is, and has shown in preseason!
Sometimes be glad for the players you don't get!
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If Mathis say TNT, for me it stops right there. I love how Chappell described Chapman's play the other day. Went right through McGlynn and Satele, popped them back into Cherilus, and the whole group ended up taking the runner down in the backfield. I really don't care about a nickname, but I would love to call him a Ngata clone!
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When we look at the problems of the offensive line and then consider Polian and his drafting, after he was fired I could never get over what he said on ESPN was his drafting strategy. When going over his strategy for drafting players, he said he would never draft an offensive linemen in the first round. That blew me away as being really a really bad strategy. His belief is they were not worth a first round draft pick. That was reserved for impact players only, pass rushers, running backs, WR's. That was due to come back and bite us. I think we are incredibly fortunate we only had to go through salary cap hell for one year. Grigson has done an amazing job in just over one year to rebuild both sides of the line. Think about that, just over 18 months since he took over! Great find and I find it amazing Irsay has the foresight to hire him.
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Good article about Luck, Hamilton and all the changes being made to make sure Luck does not take as many hits. I really enjoyed two things about the article. First, it explores Luck's demeanor and why it has not been a good thing on the field sometimes, and why he takes so many hits. Pep says he has the attitude of a linebacker.
Second, it is one of the few articles that details Luck's season, and puts into perspective why it was a great season. He looks at all the reasons from Arian's offense, the defense, to the offensive line to show why even though he only had a 54% completion percentage, it may have been one of the best performances by a Quarterback in the league. Really a nice read, and the thoughts about Luck from Pep were really interesting.
One more point, although this is not in the article. I watched a Luck interview on Tuesday I believe and then after they talked about the offseason and what he did with the receivers and with Christenson. I don't think we ever heard about it, but he spent time in California and Miami practicing with all the receivers. Second, he sat down with Christenson and went over every throw last year, all 627 on tape. Photographic memory should mean you see the ball getting thrown out of bounds more and being much more efficient. I thought it was really an interesting couple of points about his offseason and preparation.
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Every year Ron Jaworski of ESPN does his top 32 quarterback countdown. He just got to the top #10 and this is where Jaws has him ranked, #10. He has some really good points about Luck, and it should be on Sportscenter Saturday, since it was on NFL Live today if anyone wants to tune in.
If anyone is interested where RGIII, Wilson, and Kapernick came in, since this is where all the comparisons have come, and who is the best QB, although Kaepernick has been in the league one year longer, they came in at the order above, at #13, #12, &11. So for everyone who gets tired of all the RGIII hype, and Kapernick news, at least someone who was a QB and really does a good job breaking them down, sees what we all do. At the close, he said he felt Luck could move up quite a bit after this year, and I have heard him say he thinks Luck has the highest ceiling, and if he were starting a franchise, out of these four QB's, Luck is who he would choose.
That would be a beautiful pairing!
, I was thinking about compensation picks and if we would have any awarded our way? We could definitely use them this year!
Browns-Mack and how organizational stability affect FA's
in NFL Draft, Scouting, and Free Agent Talk
Posted
Interesting article. I am sure it will depend on how much money someone is willing to give Mack, because one team with cap space is going to make him a very nice offer. Everyone was right it seems about Ward being franchised. I guess I just have problems if I was in his shoes and was offered about the same money, but it was a franchise which was a winning stabile franchise, where would I go? I find it interesting that firing everyone has given him new hope. Banner or Lombardi must have made him unhappy due to not negotiating an extension. He is still going to have to make a decision, and with all things equal money wise, I know what I would do. Still I don't want the Colts to pay top dollar for him. Green Bay's center or De La Puente would be cheaper and still a huge upgrade over Satele, but I would love to have him as our anchor, especially since he is young, and will be around for a long time.
Hey Alex, Colts win, you have had 4 years of losing. Consider a change!