Brandon Graham or Brian Orakpo for OLB free agents for Colts?

[chad72]

Which guy would you prefer, Brandon Graham or Brian Orakpo for OLB free agent for Colts???

 

Having that extra OLB that can wreak havoc will give our pass rush a huge boost and can turn us into a Steelers' like front seven from the mid 2000s, IMO.

 

Thoughts???

[Andy]

Will if I had to choose between those two, it's easily Brian Orakpo. 

 

Are either of them worth signing? I think the Colts have other pressing needs that need to be addressed, imo.

 

Erik Walden and Bjoern Werner are manning the other OLB spot. If Werner continues to progress and Walden continues to set the edge and be that good run defender, the Colts won't need to sign another OLB.

[The Peytonator]

Graham isn't a free agent this year, but I'd love to get him in 2015.

 

This year though I think I'd rather go with Michael Bennett over Orakpo. I think he's better suited to a a hybrid scheme. He can play anywhere from 4-3 DE or DT to 3-4 OLB or DE. Very tough run defender who can generate pressure from anywhere on the field.

[Dustin]

Graham. He's not as good, but he'd be cheaper.

[Gavin]

Orakpo no question

[mintor]

Orakpo

[PrincetonTiger]

Neither

We have Walden and Werner and need help elsewhere

[COLTS449]

Would love to have Orakpo. It wont happen though.

[BOTT]

Neither

We have Walden and Werner and need help elsewhere

Really? Mathis will be 33 next month....now imagine the Colts defense without Mathis. Kind of scary. Werner has a long way to go when it comes to rushing the passer and Walden is just a guy.

[optimusprimetime]

Jason Worilds from the Steelers he is 26 he is the next best rated OLB behind Orakpo and he is 2 yrs younger.  Cheaper and younger that would be my first pick......even further down the line but still in the top 100 overall free agents players #66 rated overall Obrein Schofield 25yrs old from Seattle or #76 rated Vincent Rey 26yrs from Cincinnati both come from great defenses and the run a 4-3  3-4 variant so it would not be a big new learning curve for either.  Save some money for the whole team, because we have some other holes to fill.

[coltsfanatic24]

Neither, too many other positions that need to be filled . If were gonna draft one it should be in the 6th round for depth. Werner will start next year and will be much improved.

[Dark Superman]

Graham is horrible.

[Superman]

Which guy would you prefer, Brandon Graham or Brian Orakpo for OLB free agent for Colts???

 

Having that extra OLB that can wreak havoc will give our pass rush a huge boost and can turn us into a Steelers' like front seven from the mid 2000s, IMO.

 

Thoughts???

 

I thought we'd be adding someone like this last offseason, but we didn't (not sure whether Sidbury qualifies). Grigson and Pagano instead signed Walden to contain the strongside, and drafted Werner to learn the Rush position as he transitions from 4-3 DE to 3-4 OLB. So I don't know what the plan will be this year, but I'm getting the impression that they'd rather build the defensive front from the inside out. So we might be trying to find a tackle/end who can rush the passer a little better than the guys we have.

 

But if we DO sign a free agent OLB with pass rush skills, I'd rather have someone like Orakpo who has the proven ability to produce from that position. But I don't want to pay Orakpo serious money. Maybe Jason Worilds. But my preferred method of obtaining that player would be to draft Kyle Van Noy or Carl Bradford.

[NewColtsFan]

I'm in the camp of neither....

 

We have way too many other needs to be putting out a big contract on another OLB...

 

We only have limited dollars, and that money is going to be spent elsewhere....

 

We have to expect that Mathis has at least one more good year in him, maybe two....  and we have to expect that Werner turns into the player we expected when we drafted him.....   and that Walden has another acceptable year....

 

This won't be a popular post,  but that's my Big Picture view....

[Dustin]

Graham is horrible.

Totally incorrect.

[Dark Superman]

Totally incorrect.

He's not that good.. Decent at best. Not a game changer.

Wouldn't want him here.. Especially after the injury.

[Dustin]

He's not that good.. Decent at best. Not a game changer.

Wouldn't want him here.. Especially after the injury.

 

Nope. He's actually very good. 

 

And he isn't injured.

[MaoBerry]

We don‘t really have the money for this position. We have more pressing needs,but worilds is a good posibility.

[BOTT]

We don‘t really have the money for this position. We have more pressing needs,but worilds is a good posibility.

Woodley is likely to get cut and Worilds to stay in Pitt.

[MaoBerry]

Woodley is likely to get cut and Worilds to stay in Pitt.

your last avatar was better.

[BOTT]

your last avatar was better.

Someone raised a stink, had to change it.

[MaoBerry]

Someone raised a stink, had to change it.

i like cheaties even more.lol.

[Bleedin Blue]

Orakpo is a proven commodity that is a game changer.  He will come at a very heavy price.  I would much rather us continue to build this team through the draft and give us depth that we've not had in the past.  I think that's where Polian went wrong...he loaded the defense with 3-5 good players with very heavy contracts (Freeney, Sanders, Mathis, Bethea) and everything else was very average and/or no depth behind them after injury to the starters.  I would much rather have 15-25 guys that are solid and work well together.  Team defense is what wins championships.  

 

People say you need amazing players that are game changers...that have to do it on their own.  I think it's the other way around...solid players working together creates opportunities for great things to happen.  I think that's another reason why Mathis has seen his sacks increase.  Better man coverage from the secondary and more push from other sides of the pocket to keep teams from being able to give him all their attention.   

[dwm212]

Short answer - Orakpo

 

I think for our defense this could be a game changer.  For those of you who think we don't need to invest money in a pass rusher, I would like to remind you of the following statistic - the Colts produced a paltry 42 sacks!  That is even with the NFL sack leader, Robert Mathis.  He was responsible for almost 50% of our teams sacks!  50%!  And do you know who our next highest pass rusher was and how many sacks he had? Jerrell Freeman at 5.5 sacks.   We have literally no pash rush without Mathis.  This allows teams to double team and scheme against Mathis.  I would rather take our chances by trying to get a receiver through the draft.  Our defense is not great by any stretch of the imagination.  Great quarterbacks carve us up on a regular basis because they can sit back in the pocket for an hour and wait for our corners to get tired.  I think our corners are a bit better than they look (although we could use another corner and another safety for depth) because they don't get any rush from our front seven besides Mathis.  Quality pass rushers don't fall off trees.  They also don't fall to end of the first round where we are likely to be picking for the next 10 or so years.   Betting on Walden and Werner to turn into a Orakpo like player is like betting on a ostrich to grow gigantic wings and start flying.  I am not saying we need to get Orakpo specifically, but if we don't get another legitimate pass rusher, we will NEVER, EVER have a good defense.