How did the new guys look?

[BlueCollarColts]

How do you guys think the new guys looked (Ahmad Bradshaw, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Donald Thomas, Gosder Cherilus, LaRon Landry, Greg Toler, Erik Walden, and Bjeorn Werner specifically). here is how I would grade them:

 

Ahmad Bradshaw: B-, 7 carries for 26 yards, had some nice runs, and then some not so nice runs, though he missed all of pre-season, so I would say a decent debut

 

Darrius Heyward-Bey: B, 3 receptions for 33 yards, not great, but he did have some nice catches, especially one where he got hit and still fell forward and reached the ball out to try to get the first down, didn't drop any passes, and he definitely looks like an upgrade over Avery

 

Donald Thomas: B+, I thought he blocked really well today, though his performance may be underrated due to the performances of some fellow O-Lineman (Satele, and McGlynn)

 

Gosder Cherilus: B, can't say I really noticed him much today, which I guess is a good thing!

 

LaRon Landry: A, all over the field today and ended up with 15 tackles, reminded me of a healthy #21, seemed like he was in on ever tackle

 

Greg Toler: B, had nice coverage on one play and ended up with the interception, had good coverage for most of the day, but Pryor running around all day let some of the receivers get open, over all he looks like a sold #2 corner

 

Erik Walden: C, Had some pressure, but did not do a great job of containing Pryor, though he didn't really stand out, which is good

 

Bjoern Werner: C-, didn't get a lot of pressure and lost contain a couple of times, first ever NFL game, so it is expected for him to struggle a bit.

[PrincetonTiger]

Landry had a great game everyone else had their moments

[tony1287]

I agree with donald thomas. Easily could be our best o-lineman. Toler was good in coverage and would have been even better if the pass rush could have contained pryor and actually got some pressure on him. It's hard to cover your man for ten seconds after the ball is snapped. Landry was a beast most of the day(just ask jacoby ford). Werner and walden were lost at times and could have been better setting the edge but werner will be better, rookie growing pains. DHB had a solid day taking a big hit and holding on to the ball while giving second effort for the first down. Also NO DROPS. Ahmad is slowly working his way into the offense but if vick runs the ball like he did today he likely won't supplant ballard as the starter. Oh and I can't post this without saying mcglynn seriously needs to be benched... he is just not starting material. Satele would improve if thornton was starting with thomas on the other side. Good win but always room to improve, on to the dolphins. Go colts!!!

[Danfish98]

My rankings are as follows:

 

Bradshaw C+ - Looked OK, but Ballard looked a lot better.  I expect Bradshaw to look much improved in a couple weeks once he gets into better game shape.

 

DHB - B -  No drops and a great block on the Luck scramble for the winning TD.  His blocking is the reason he's ahead of TY on the depth chart IMO.

 

Thomas B+ - Runs seemed to be much more successful to the left which I attribute mostly to Thomas.  Most of the pressure came on blitzes from the outside, so the interior line was doing their job.

 

Cherilus B - I also didn't notice him which is typically a good thing.

 

Landry A- - Lots of tackles but many of them for big gains.  Needs some tackles for loss to get the A.

 

Toler D+ - Had an interception on a horrible throw.  Otherwise he was leaving guys wide open all over the field.  Very disappointed in Toler today.

 

Walden F - Awful job setting the edge which is why he was brought in.

 

Werner D - Looked like a rookie.  LB play today left a lot to be desired.

[MTC]

Thought all of them made some good plays.

 

Werner looked inexperienced which is expected and Walden looked all over the place but I thought he did okay.

 

Landry was a beast. Enough said.

 

Thomas looked fine I guess. Cherilus had a few good blocks there and there.

 

Bradshaw did better than I expected. Had a nice run for 13 yards.

 

Toler made a nice pick but let a few guys get a first down.

[BlueCollarColts]

My rankings are as follows:

 

Bradshaw C+ - Looked OK, but Ballard looked a lot better.  I expect Bradshaw to look much improved in a couple weeks once he gets into better game shape.

 

DHB - B -  No drops and a great block on the Luck scramble for the winning TD.  His blocking is the reason he's ahead of TY on the depth chart IMO.

 

Thomas B+ - Runs seemed to be much more successful to the left which I attribute mostly to Thomas.  Most of the pressure came on blitzes from the outside, so the interior line was doing their job.

 

Cherilus B - I also didn't notice him which is typically a good thing.

 

Landry A- - Lots of tackles but many of them for big gains.  Needs some tackles for loss to get the A.

 

Toler D+ - Had an interception on a horrible throw.  Otherwise he was leaving guys wide open all over the field.  Very disappointed in Toler today.

 

Walden F - Awful job setting the edge which is why he was brought in.

 

Werner D - Looked like a rookie.  LB play today left a lot to be desired.

I think when grading Toler, you need to look at the completions he gave up, most of them were when Pryor was running loose for 5-10 seconds, eventually, his man will get open

[Hoosiernsavga]

DHB had a ball go right through his hands on a beautiful pass from Luck that's as bad as a drop should have been caught. Other than that he played well. We could have lost to a very bad Raiders team at home because we could not contain or hold the edge.

My hat goes off to Pryor he played excellent but he is no RG3, Wilson, Kaepernick, Newton, or Manuel. But we sure made him look like a MVP today.

This Colts Interior and secondary D has improved but Walden and Werner looked really bad against very little talent. They will have to improve very soon and I believe they will. This was the first game, we are fortunate that we played the Raiders.

[T Y Goodbye]

I think when grading Toler, you need to look at the completions he gave up, most of them were when Pryor was running loose for 5-10 seconds, eventually, his man will get open

What he said....

[tony1287]

I thought ricky jean played a solid game getting some pressure up the middle at times and making a few stops at or behind the line of scrimmage. As for toler, colts9888 nailed it

[BlueCollarColts]

DHB had a ball go right through his hands on a beautiful pass from Luck that's as bad as a drop should have been caught. Other than that he played well. We could have lost to a very bad Raiders team at home because we could not contain or hold the edge.

My hat goes off to Pryor he played excellent but he is no RG3, Wilson, Kaepernick, Newton, or Manuel. But we sure made him look like a MVP today.

This Colts Interior and secondary D has improved but Walden and Werner looked really bad against very little talent. They will have to improve very soon and I believe they will. This was the first game, we are fortunate that we played the Raiders.

ummm, DHB never dropped a pass, I have no idea what you are talking about when you say he dropped a pass

[fvantagio]

ummm, DHB never dropped a pass, I have no idea what you are talking about when you say he dropped a pass

Hes talking about the one on 3rd and long towards the end of the game. Luck scrambled and threw it up to DHB in double coverage. It was high to the outside shoulder, so it was good placement by luck despite the questionable decision and it WAS catchable, but a very difficult catch. One that id expect players like Reggie to make, but not DHB..not a big deal.

[colts8718]

That linebacker we got from buffalo for Huges was lost out there #52

[Hoosiernsavga]

ummm, DHB never dropped a pass, I have no idea what you are talking about when you say he dropped a pass

ummm, DHB never dropped a pass, I have no idea what you are talking about when you say he dropped a pass

I never said he dropped a pass. The ball just went right through his hands on a pass that most NFL wr's with his size shoud have caught. Yes it would have been a good catch but it was a much better pass. Luck put the the ball in a perfect place with double coverage DHB was the only player to touch it and get BOTH hands on the ball as he reached up to make the play.

Like fvantagio said it was 3rd and long and a very crucial time in the game. We all know that DHB's problem is catching the ball with his hands, when he is unable to use his body to bring it in. This is a perfect example of just that!

[Dark Superman]

Why aren't we playing Thornton?

[Franklin County]

I never said he dropped a pass. The ball just went right through his hands on a pass that most NFL wr's with his size shoud have caught. Yes it would have been a good catch but it was a much better pass. Luck put the the ball in a perfect place with double coverage DHB was the only player to touch it and get BOTH hands on the ball as he reached up to make the play.

Like fvantagio said it was 3rd and long and a very crucial time in the game. We all know that DHB's problem is catching the ball with his hands, when he is unable to use his body to bring it in. This is a perfect example of just that!

I think if you go back and look at that play, he actually landed out of bounds. So it would have been an uncatchable ball. Not that it matters now.

[Hoosiernsavga]

I think if you go back and look at that play, he actually landed out of bounds. So it would have been an uncatchable ball. Not that it matters now.

Yeah, I didn't see the replay of the game but at the time I thought he should have caught the ball rather he landed in or out of bounds.

I know it would have been a good catch but it was great placement by Luck.

Like you said, not that it matters now.

DHB played well, I can't wait to see him catch one in stride to the end zone.