Freeneys last year?

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

I don't think so... I think freeney is still very much valuable to this team. Looking back vs the bears, the colts D started out really well. We were all over cutler. Then freeney gets injured and all of a sudden we lose a step and well. We just weren't that good.

Freeney comes back vs the packers. And low and behold, our D regains that step. Do you think this is a coincidence?

[ALuck>RG3]

He's good, should be resigned on a 3 year deal while we look for our future pass rusher

[Gavin]

dont know yet, to early, he has only played in 1 full game

[jbaron04]

Freeney is a beast we need him give the man 3 yr deal Mathis type money maybe a tiny bit more to not hurt pride

[Coltswarriors]

Too early as of right now, but I really hope we re-sign him.

I still think he's very valuable to us.

[shakedownstreet]

hopefully this is not leeney's yast frear

[BOTT]

for much of the game vs packers the pass rush was pretty mild....

[willysp]

Freeney hasn't played much this year, and is ridiculously expensive for a one trick pony. We need to let him go and move on and spend that obscene salary elsewhere on 3 or 4 D-line or O-line players..

[deedub75]

Mathis money? Are you kidding me?

[Gavin]

Freeney hasn't played much this year, and is ridiculously expensive for a one trick pony. We need to let him go and move on and spend that obscene salary elsewhere on 3 or 4 D-line or O-line players..

I gave that idea up quite a while ago lol, its best to just accept he is here and hope he continues to produce (which I think he will just not enough to justify the contract but hey Grigson didn't make that contract nor can he restructure without Freeney agreeing to it which just wont happen). I am just going to enjoy my team and continue to hope for the best

[OJl]

Freeney is done.

I hope they bring him back. I am a huge Freeney fan but I really doubt Grigson will be willing to pay Freeney's salary demands.

[krunk]

Freeney is done.

I hope they bring him back. I am a huge Freeney fan but I really doubt Grigson will be willing to pay Freeney's salary demands.

Not if Grigson is following the Philadelphia Eagles model, which he probably will be doing that.

I don't see Freeney coming back either. We will find another pass rusher in the draft or FA most likely.

[GoColts8818]

We'll see honestly the one good thing that has come out of the injuries to Freeney and Mathis is that we have and will get a good look at our defense with Freeney and Mathis, just Mathis, and just Freeney. We are going to be able to make an educated decision here.

[OJl]

Freeney is not an OLB. He just is not. Because he's one heck of a football player, he can probably make the adjustments and do it well enough. But the truth is he's a one gap 4-3 DE. Making Freeney drop into coverage and play pass is like taking an Aston Martin Vanquish...and putting a tow hitch on it to pull the bass boat.

[GoColts8818]

Freeney is not an OLB. He just is not. Because he's one heck of a football player, he can probably make the adjustments and do it well enough. But the truth is he's a one gap 4-3 DE. Making Freeney drop into coverage and play pass is like taking an Aston Martin Vanquish...and putting a tow hitch on it to pull the bass boat.

I agree he's not and you have to look no further than how the Colts are playing him to see that. With that said, and I know it's a very small sample size so far, I can't think of a play where Freeney being out there playing in his 3 point stance has really hurt us. In fact in the Bears game I saw him make a play or two he wouldn't have normally made in the old 3-4. I agree it's a bit of trying to force a square into round hole but I think the Colts have handled it fairly well. They aren't asking Freeney to really drop back into coverage and while him playing out of the 3 point stance is clearly not ideal for a 3/4 defense I don't think it's hurt that bad at least yet but again we are talking about a very small sample size so far.

[OJl]

I agree he's not and you have to look no further than how the Colts are playing him to see that. With that said, and I know it's a very small sample size so far, I can't think of a play where Freeney being out there playing in his 3 point stance has really hurt us. In fact in the Bears game I saw him make a play or two he wouldn't have normally made in the old 3-4. I agree it's a bit of trying to force a square into round hole but I think the Colts have handled it fairly well. They aren't asking Freeney to really drop back into coverage and while him playing out of the 3 point stance is clearly not ideal for a 3/4 defense I don't think it's hurt that bad at least yet but again we are talking about a very small sample size so far.

I agree. Against the Packers, at the end of the game Freeney did something that surprised me. There was a run coming to his side. He took on the lead blocker and stood him up cold forcing the ball carrier to hesitate allowing a lineback to knife in and make the play. It was a textbook 3-4 DE play.

[GoColts8818]

I agree. Against the Packers, at the end of the game Freeney did something that surprised me. There was a run coming to his side. He took on the lead blocker and stood him up cold forcing the ball carrier to hesitate allowing a lineback to knife in and make the play. It was a textbook 3-4 DE play.

Maybe we are looking at it wrong maybe rather than trying to get him to play 3-4 LB maybe he should be playing 3-4 end?

[BOTT]

Freeney is not an OLB. He just is not. Because he's one heck of a football player, he can probably make the adjustments and do it well enough. But the truth is he's a one gap 4-3 DE. Making Freeney drop into coverage and play pass is like taking an Aston Martin Vanquish...and putting a tow hitch on it to pull the bass boat.

meh, freeney will have his hand in the dirt the vast majority of the time

[Jason_]

Maybe we are looking at it wrong maybe rather than trying to get him to play 3-4 LB maybe he should be playing 3-4 end?

Um, no, definitely not. lol Especially not in a 2-gap scheme but I don't think he'd work in a 1-gap 3-4 either.

Freeney is not an OLB. He just is not. Because he's one heck of a football player, he can probably make the adjustments and do it well enough. But the truth is he's a one gap 4-3 DE. Making Freeney drop into coverage and play pass is like taking an Aston Martin Vanquish...and putting a tow hitch on it to pull the bass boat.

Actually I disagree. He's a bit undersized for a 4-3 DE and his body type is almost prototypical for a 3-4 OLB. He doesn't drop back into coverage often. He's the rush LB ala Terrell Suggs, Demarcus Ware, James Harrison etc. He may drop back on occasion just to keep the opposing offense guessing, but more often than not he's rushing the passer. In a 4-man front, he's a liability against the run more often than not. As a DE, he's almost exclusively a pass rusher which is how the new staff has been using him. yes they used him a lot at DE against the Packers because everyone knows they are a pass happy team. When we play a pass happy team like that I expect to see a lot more 4 man fronts with Mathis/Freeney back at DE to rush the passer. However I don't think we'll ever see him at DE in a 4 man front on any play where we're expecting a run. As a 3-4 OLB, the DL is supposed to keep him clean to allow him to use his speed (his greatest strength) to make a play.

As to whether he's back next year or not, I think that will all depend on how much money he demands. I would love to see him back but don't want to overpay him.

[TheJACKCOLT]

I agree this defense is much more effective when Freeny is on the field. He forces the opposing QB to step up in the pocket and this sets up Redding, Nevis and the bitzing LB'S.Freeny does a lot of disruptive things that just don't show up in the stats.For all the fans that think Freeny doesn't bring that much to the table just ask the opposing coach and players what they think of Freeny, he is one of those rare players that you have to account for on every play, it doesn't show up on the stat sheets but, he has a huge impact on many plays over the course of a game and anyone can see that the Colts are a much more disruptive team when he's on the field. I hope something can be worked out for the next few years, for I believe Freenys presence will be hard to replace.

[ProblChld32]

I don't think so... I think freeney is still very much valuable to this team. Looking back vs the bears, the colts D started out really well. We were all over cutler. Then freeney gets injured and all of a sudden we lose a step and well. We just weren't that good.

Freeney comes back vs the packers. And low and behold, our D regains that step. Do you think this is a coincidence?

No coincidence at all when you have a player of Freeny's caliber he demands a double team, People fail to realize how crucial that is