MKDK's Off Season Mock 1.0

[MKDK]

These resigning, free agency and draft scenarios are popular, and with reason. They are fun to think about and make, even though eventually they'll mean nothing. Nevertheless, here's what I'd love to see the Colts doing i 2013 rosterwise. Trying to keep this realistic:

 

Resignings:

 

P Pat McAfee - No brainer. Something like 5 years, $10 million.

CB Darius Butler - Our future nickel (after FA/draft).

DL Fili Moala - If not a starter, at least good depth. Shouldn't be met by a huge market, so should come cheap.

OT Winston Justice - Shouldn't be too expensive either. We can't get stuck with Linkenbach (or similar as Link is FA) as the primary back up again.

OG Joe Reitz - Restricted free agent. Don't know what his tender will be, probably not much. Good depth.

 

Possible resignings:

 

LB Moise Fokou - If price is right, he's decent depth and decent 3rd down LB. Won't be a hot commodity in FA.

QB Drew Stanton - Might follow BA to ARI? If not, why not keep Luck's clipboard holder?

WR Donnie Avery - Questionable hands, but we probably won't draft a receiver high until 2014. Keep what we got?

 

Let walk/don't resign: Jerraud Powers, Antonio Johnson, Jeff Linkenbach, Mewelde Moore, Cassius Vaughn

 

Free Agency:

 

OG Louis Vasquez - 5 years, $30 million

DL Randy Starks - 4 years, $20 million (Desmond Bryant is a REAL good alternative!)

OG Geoff Schwartz - 1 year, $2 million

SS William Moore - 5 years, $33,5 million

 

Draft:

 

1st round: CB Desmond Trufant

3rd round: OLB Brandon Jenkings / OLB Corey Lemonier

4th round: OT Xavier Nixon / OT Brennan Williams

5th round Compensatory: CB Tharold Simon

6th round: WR Tavarres King / WR Josh Boyce

7th round: BPA ;-)

 

Roster:

 

QB: Luck, Stanton, (Harnish)

RB: Ballard, Brown, Carter, Karim

FB: Robert Hughes

TE: Allen, Fleener, Saunders

WR: Wayne, Hilton, Brazill, King/Boyce, (Avery)

LT: Castonzo

LG: Schwarz, Reitz

C: Shipley, Satele

RG: Vasquez, Ijalana, McGlynn

RT: Justice, Nixon/Williams

 

DE: Starks, Moala, Nevis

NT: Chapman, McKinney

DE: Redding, Mathews

OLB: Mathis, Hickman

OLB: Hughes, Jenkins/Lemonier

ILB: Freeman, (Fokou)

ILB: Angerer, Conner

CB: Davis, Butler, Gordy

CB: Trufant, Simon

FS: Bethea, Brown

SS: Moore, Lefeged, Zbikowski

 

KR: Karim

PR: Hilton

PK: Vinatieri

P: McAfee

LS: Overton

 

Some thoughts:

 

I'm not chasing a high priced free agent CB. If any, I think Mike Jenkins would present good value. Sean Smith and Cary Williams are not worth the 8M+ they apparently want, Keenan Lewis will be paid too, and my bet is DRC stays in Philly. But more important, Vontae is only under contract for one more season, so his contract has to be extended. That is easier to do with a rookie contract to Trufant. Furthermore, I decided to spend on William Moore. I'm pretty sure we all have longed for a really god partner for Bethea back there. He'll be a big help for the corners too.

 

Geoff Schwartz is a nasty blocker, but he only gets another 1 year prove it contract - as the Vikings gave him. He missed all of 2011 with a hip injury and missed some weeks in 2012 with sports hernia as well. Vikings paid him 1,5M for 2012. The Colts can offer him the chance to start and solidify a spot.

 

I'd love to get Anthony Spencer i FA to play that strongside outside linebacker position. But as I stated in the beginning, I wanted to keep this realistic. I'm giving Jerry Hughes the benefit of the doubt, and giving him a year to prove himself.

 

I have no idea what kind of compensatory picks the Colts will be given, but I figured at least a 5th for Garcon.

 

In this mock, OLB and RT might be a little thin. But I don't think it's realistic to sign 5-6 FAs. A FA signing of a OLB (Spencer) would make OLB a strong group though (even without Jenkins). I'd love to see that happen. It would free up a draft pick as well - or at least down prioritize the need for drafting an OLB. A guy like Philip Buchanon could then be had later.

[Nobody]

I'd prefer Banks or Rhodes in the first, and Porter in the third. I really want Tavarres King.

[chelsea_fc]

Go ahead and just make the switch to desmond bryant and this is my favorite mock yet. Trufant is a great choice for cb.

[CR91]

i dont know about moore

[ar1888]

With the depth that will be available in free agency and the draft, i really do not see Winston Justice returning as the starting RT.

[Tony Sullivan]

I like it, I do think we may look towards free agency for CB though because of the depth of players likely to be available.

[Mr. Blue]

Going along with the general consensus of the comments in this thread, I think it's a very good, fairly realistic mock. We'd have a menacing D-line to help our poor run defense, just not quite sure about not getting an upgrade over Hughes. I think with his Baltimore connections, it would be more realistic for Pagano to bring in Kruger rather than William Moore.

[Carlos Danger]

Looks good, but I think Stanton is a goner... I wouldn't mind this at all...

[Briggs32]

Not a bad roster.  I'd be psyched if Lemonier fell to the 3rd round but I'm thinking he will probably be gone by our pick in the 3rd.  I forgot about Trufant.  He has good size and athleticism for a man corner in our new defense.  He really turned a lot of heads at the Senior Bowl.

[MKDK]

I'd prefer Banks or Rhodes in the first, and Porter in the third. I really want Tavarres King.

 

I got more questionmarks with both Banks and Rhodes than with Trufant. Also, there's a good chance at least one of them will be gone before #24 - probably Rhodes, it seems Banks' stock has fallen a bit lately. I wouldn't be opposed to taking any of the three though.

 

 

With the depth that will be available in free agency and the draft, i really do not see Winston Justice returning as the starting RT.

 

Most of the free agent OTs has been playing LTs, and done that succesfully. They are going to want to get paid like LTs.

Xavier Nixon or Brennan Williams should push Justice for that RT spot. This OT draft class is loaded.

[Archer]

A very realistic mock.  I like most your choices.  I agree 100% with Ar1888 about Justice, however.  In FA, I think RT has to be our 1st priority.  You look at Justice's entire pro history, and his reputation is that he's only healthy half the time and he's only so-so when he plays.  That's exactly what we saw last season.  The fact that Linkenbach plays when he's out makes this position a mandatory upgrade.  Andre Smith (Cin.) or Gosder Cherilus (Det.) would be upgrades, and Cherilus has generally remained very healthy.  Add to that the fact that Det. has a 1st rounder (Reiff) waiting to start somewhere, and I can't imagine the Lions making a strong push to keep Cherilus.  He's probably only an average RT, but our Justice/Link combo is looking up at average...

[Balzer40]

This is honestly one of the best attempts at this whole prediction thing yet. Really the only thing I don't think even has a tiny chance of happening is Stanton re-signing. He has been on record stating he wants to compete for a starting spot and he has virtually no chance of that happening here. 

[ar1888]

I got more questionmarks with both Banks and Rhodes than with Trufant. Also, there's a good chance at least one of them will be gone before #24 - probably Rhodes, it seems Banks' stock has fallen a bit lately. I wouldn't be opposed to taking any of the three though.

 

 

 

Most of the free agent OTs has been playing LTs, and done that succesfully. They are going to want to get paid like LTs.

Xavier Nixon or Brennan Williams should push Justice for that RT spot. This OT draft class is loaded.

Im not saying we would look to draft another tackle in the 4th round, I just think if say Jake Long came to Indy he would be playing LT, and Castonzo RT.  If we do not sign a impact RT, I think the Colts will draft one in the first round.  I think Justice could come back, but only as depth.