Realistic Colts Offseason (Superbowl Sunday)

[BProland85]

I thought I would do an offseason that is most realistic in my opinion, and what better day than Superbowl Sunday.

 

Free agency...

 

Indy cuts: C Samson Satelle

Indy resigns: CB Vontae Davis, P McAfee(franchise tag), K Vinatieri, RB Donald Brown, OG Joe Reitz, CB Josh Gordy

Indy signs free agents: C Evan Dietrich Smith, OG Geoff Schwartz, NT/DT Linval Joseph, ILB Daryl Smith

 

Draft...(Indy traded 2nd rounder to San Fran for their two 3rds, late 4th)

 

Round 3 Pick 13 (S.F.): Jarvis Landry, WR, LSU (A)
Round 3 Pick 26: Dion Bailey, FS, Dion Bailey, FS, Southern California (A)
Round 3 Pick 30 (S.F.): Dee Ford, OLB, Auburn (A-)
Round 4 Pick 29 (S.F.): Stanley Jean-Baptiste, CB, Nebraska (B+)
Round 5 Pick 26: Caraun Reid, DT, Princeton (A)
Round 6 Pick 27: Deandre Coleman, DT, California (B-)
Round 7 Pick 16: DeDe Lattimore, ILB, South Florida (A)

 

In my opinion this is pretty realistic. Some of the draft picks may go a little higher than this, but again you never know. All in all, this offseason solves almost all our issues getting depth and potential starters at positions of need.

[Gibbons180]

very nice.

[PrincetonTiger]

Not bad

[Bluefire4]

Finally somebody mentions Daryl Smith! but I think its unrealistic to resign Brown and get 2 3s and a 4 for a 2nd round pick.

[pacolts56]

Good job on free agent signings and re-signings....mine are pretty similar....and I like the Bailey and Coleman selections.

 

That trade is a little unbalanced in our favor though, and SF would likely stop at two 3rd rounders for our #58.

[throwing BBZ]

Grigson would keep Samson over Smith.

Figure Griggs and LinkLover Pagano are ready to bump Their LINK to 1st Team RG if Thomas isn`t ready.

Zero chance they Franchise McAfee.
They won`t bring Reitz back.

They won`t trade down.

 Pray they do sign a 3-4 DE with STARTER ability.

 And a Vet ILB tackling machine.

[NewColtsFan]

Finally somebody mentions Daryl Smith! but I think its unrealistic to resign Brown and get 2 3s and a 4 for a 2nd round pick.

 

I think we stand a very good chance of re-signing Brown...

 

But agree completely on the proposed trade.     There is zero chance of getting two 3's and a 4 for a low 2.

 

In fact,  we wouldn't even get the two 3's (forget the 4) for our low 2.

 

For our low 2,  we might get a 3/4/6....   The question would be how high/low in each round would the picks be??

 

Just some food for thought on a Super Sunday!

[COLTS449]

Grigson would keep Samson over Smith.

Figure Griggs and LinkLover Pagano are ready to bump Their LINK to 1st Team RG if Thomas isn`t ready.

Zero chance they Franchise McAfee.

They won`t bring Reitz back.

They won`t trade down.

 Pray they do sign a 3-4 DE with STARTER ability.

 And a Vet ILB tackling machine.

 

I don't think Link will be back, Reitz should be though. I don't see how Grigs could justify bringing Satele back, and Dietrich Smith is a top 5 center.

[BProland85]

Grigson would keep Samson over Smith.

Figure Griggs and LinkLover Pagano are ready to bump Their LINK to 1st Team RG if Thomas isn`t ready.

Zero chance they Franchise McAfee.

They won`t bring Reitz back.

They won`t trade down.

 Pray they do sign a 3-4 DE with STARTER ability.

 And a Vet ILB tackling machine.

Negative much? I would be VERY disappointed if we went into the season with Satelle still on the roster. And Reitz has played well when given opportunity, so we can bring him back for cheap as a backup. Why wouldn't we entertain trade down offers if we only have 5 picks?

[NewColtsFan]

Negative much? I would be VERY disappointed if we went into the season with Satelle still on the roster. And Reitz has played well when given opportunity, so we can bring him back for cheap as a backup. Why wouldn't we entertain trade down offers if we only have 5 picks?

 

Agreed!

 

And if we only have 4 picks because we traded our 6 for Gordy as one report has it,  then all the more reason to consider trading down and adding picks...

 

I'm not at the point of predicting this,  but I certainly think it will be seriously considered....

[COLTS449]

If we could get two 3's and a 4 I would trade down in a heartbeat, But I doubt we could get that much. In a perfect world we could get Bailey, Smallwood, and Ford in the 3rd, and Stanley Jean Baptiste in the 4th. Not going to happen though.

[Track Guy]

Negative much? I would be VERY disappointed if we went into the season with Satelle still on the roster. And Reitz has played well when given opportunity, so we can bring him back for cheap as a backup. Why wouldn't we entertain trade down offers if we only have 5 picks?

 

Truth. If we could get Smith or De La Puente (I like De La Puente but either one I'd be thrilled with over Satelle) we 100% should do it. C is maybe the biggest need on the team considering we had basically the worst play in the league there last year.

 

If this off-season actually happened I'd be pretty happy with a lot of the moves. Although I'm not so sure whether we'd be able to pull of that good of a deal on a trade back. And I think Geoff Schwartz is going to resign with the Chiefs. Personally I might be tempted to hold off on WR till round 7 and try to score a guy like Cody Hoffman or Matt Hazel. I like those 2 as late round prospects. But yeah if a really special player falls to us I wouldn't avoid a WR sooner. Overall pretty good.

[Deathiltis]

Not extremely realistic.

[esmort]

I think if you are going to do realistic mock drafts you need to stop using a simulator (and doing trades) they are too inaccurate (ex: Dee Ford will not be there in the 3rd), and look at the actual projected rounds the players are going in.  There is a thread for simulator results.

[BOTT]

Why franchise Pat? And Dee Ford in the 3rd? Good luck. Like the free agent signings for the most part.

[Bluefire4]

I think we stand a very good chance of re-signing Brown...

 

But agree completely on the proposed trade.     There is zero chance of getting two 3's and a 4 for a low 2.

 

In fact,  we wouldn't even get the two 3's (forget the 4) for our low 2.

 

For our low 2,  we might get a 3/4/6....   The question would be how high/low in each round would the picks be??

 

Just some food for thought on a Super Sunday!

I just don't think Brown would come back to be a third running back no matter how much we offer him.

[Clem-Dog]

I definitely like the idea of trading down to accumulate more picks.  About the return, we won't know the value of the pick until the draft unfolds.  It is possible that another team makes an acceptable offer, especially if a player they perceive to have 1st round value falls to our position. 

[Patagonia Chris]

Didn't Grigson say last year that he doesn't believe in paying top dollar and using high draft picks for interior linemen? I think if they do sign an interior linemen, it'll be a guy like Donald Thomas was. High upside with a relatively low cost, and I think Dietrich-Smith will command a lot of money on the free agent market. I still can't believe we wasted a pick on Khaled Holmes, who contributed nothing to the team this season.

[coltsfanatic24]

Dee Ford is a 1st or early 2nd round prospect, a 3-4 team will draft him. The Eagles, Chargers, and Saints could all use a player like Ford.

[Track Guy]

Didn't Grigson say last year that he doesn't believe in paying top dollar and using high draft picks for interior linemen? I think if they do sign an interior linemen, it'll be a guy like Donald Thomas was. High upside with a relatively low cost, and I think Dietrich-Smith will command a lot of money on the free agent market. I still can't believe we wasted a pick on Khaled Holmes, who contributed nothing to the team this season.

 

I hope he signs a center at least! If you're Grigson, sometimes you gotta know when to save face. Interior OL was awful this year.

[NewColtsFan]

I just don't think Brown would come back to be a third running back no matter how much we offer him.

 

He wouldn't be 3rd string...   he'd be 2nd string with an outside shot at sharing first string with Ballard if Trent can't figure things out....

 

I don't think any team in the NFL is going to offer him starter money.   He split duty with a struggling TR...  I think that will tell the other 31 teams that we believe he can't stay healthy enough to be a starter...  but that we think he's a quality 1a to someone else as the 1...

 

I think Donald would accept being the 1a to Trent or Vick...

 

Sorry...   hope that clarifies....

[NewColtsFan]

Didn't Grigson say last year that he doesn't believe in paying top dollar and using high draft picks for interior linemen? I think if they do sign an interior linemen, it'll be a guy like Donald Thomas was. High upside with a relatively low cost, and I think Dietrich-Smith will command a lot of money on the free agent market. I still can't believe we wasted a pick on Khaled Holmes, who contributed nothing to the team this season.

 

Struggling as a rookie is more common than starting...

 

Don't write-off Holmes just yet....

 

And I don't think Grigson was specific about not wanting to spend huge money on interior OL...   having now gone two years in a row with a very poor OL,  I don't think Grigson can politically not address the problem for a 3rd straight year.   I think he has to buy an above average quality player for very good money.    Maybe not the highest paid guy,  but someone who has a solid reputation that will earn a very respectable contract from the Colts...

 

Just my hunch....

[Bluefire4]

He wouldn't be 3rd string...   he'd be 2nd string with an outside shot at sharing first string with Ballard if Trent can't figure things out....

 

I don't think any team in the NFL is going to offer him starter money.   He split duty with a struggling TR...  I think that will tell the other 31 teams that we believe he can't stay healthy enough to be a starter...  but that we think he's a quality 1a to someone else as the 1...

 

I think Donald would accept being the 1a to Trent or Vick...

 

Sorry...   hope that clarifies....

But he split duty because of a stubborn coaching staff who didn't want to be proved wrong. And he would at least start as third string on the Colts and would be battling for a starting job on a team like the Raiders.

[BProland85]

Here is another version of a more realistic mock draft...

 

This time we got back two 3's and a 5 for our 2nd rounder(very reasonable)

We also don't resign Donald Brown since he wants to be a #2 RB somewhere. He will only be a #3 here once Ballard is back. So we replace him with D'Anthony Thomas.

 

Round 3 Pick 8 (MINN): Jarvis Landry, WR, LSU (A)
Round 3 Pick 26: Dion Bailey, FS, Dion Bailey, FS, Southern California (A)
Round 3 Pick 32 (MINN): Dee Ford, OLB, Auburn (A)
Round 5 Pick 8 (MINN): Stanley Jean-Baptiste, CB, Nebraska (A)
Round 5 Pick 26: Caraun Reid, DT, Princeton (A)
Round 6 Pick 27: Deandre Coleman, DT, California (B-)
Round 7 Pick 16: De'Anthony Thomas, RB, Oregon (B)

[Valpo2004]

A team would have to be desperate to give up 2 3's and a 4th for a low 2nd round pick.  I don't think we would get that.  

[Naptown Lifer]

Yeah man no offense but this is the most unrealistic mock I've seen mainly because of the trade. We also won't franchise pat again because that means he gets 20 percent raise.

That being said I love your picks and do t disagree with many. I'd get Keith McGill as cb Utah. Other than that good picks.

[BProland85]

A team would have to be desperate to give up 2 3's and a 4th for a low 2nd round pick.  I don't think we would get that.  

It depends on who's available but I don't think it's out of the question. The second 3rd rounder is practically an early 4th so it's doable.

[itmustbejj]

But he split duty because of a stubborn coaching staff who didn't want to be proved wrong. And he would at least start as third string on the Colts and would be battling for a starting job on a team like the Raiders.

 

Donald Brown is way too intelligent to take the money and run to Oakland.

[Patagonia Chris]

Struggling as a rookie is more common than starting...

 

Don't write-off Holmes just yet....

 

I understand that most rookies struggle in the NFL, but let's be real there is no reason why a 4th round draft pick should constantly be a healthy scratch. Especially on a team like the Colts who had a) serious interior line problems and b) health problems along the offensive line. I'm not saying that Khaled Holmes won't be a solid pro player, I just think it's cause for concern.

I do agree that the Colts will sign a veteran interior linemen, I'm just not sure it's going to be an Alex Mack or Travelle Wharton. I think that them targeting Chris Scott from Carolina or Shawn Lauvao from Cleveland is more realistic. I'm not saying that is what Grigson should do, just making an educated guess based off of the moves they've made thus far.

[NewColtsFan]

But he split duty because of a stubborn coaching staff who didn't want to be proved wrong. And he would at least start as third string on the Colts and would be battling for a starting job on a team like the Raiders.

 

Respectfully...

 

That's your version of events.   In my version, Brown split duty because the coaching staff WISELY realized he can't stay healthy as the primary back, so they used him in certain situations.    It's not about not wanting to be proven wrong.   Its' about properly managing your resources.    Ballard and Bradshaw were gone.   TR was not producing enough.   Brown can't go it alone.   So, splitting was the only way to last the season.

 

He would not start next year as the 3rd string.   Ballard would.   Brown and TR would start as 1 and 1a.   And with a 3/10 contract, he'd know that the franchise valued him and would use him.   

 

Honestly,   I don't see any team -- even the Raiders -- seeing Brown as a starter and paying him like one.    He hasn't played like one in any of his five years for the Colts.    Not even this year.    

 

That's my way of looking at things...

 

Of course, I have been wrong many, many times...  and will be wrong again, many, many more times!     

[Patagonia Chris]

Also, for what it's worth I did a mock draft. I only made trades if it was a realistic offer. By that I mean that the values were similiar for each side using the NFL Draft Value chart. Here's what I got....

 

Round 2 Pick 27: Gabe Jackson, OG, Mississippi State (A)
Round 3 Pick 28 (CAR): Dominique Easley, DT, Florida (A)
Round 5 Pick 26: Max Bullough, ILB, Michigan State (A)
Round 6 Pick 27: Deion Belue, CB, Alabama (A)
Round 6 Pick 28 (CAR): Vinnie Sunseri, SS, Alabama (B+)
Round 7 Pick 16: James Stone, C, Tennessee (A)

 

Easley is listed as a DT on the site but would most likely be a DE in the 3-4 defense.

[esmort]

Here is another version of a more realistic mock draft...

 

This time we got back two 3's and a 5 for our 2nd rounder(very reasonable)

We also don't resign Donald Brown since he wants to be a #2 RB somewhere. He will only be a #3 here once Ballard is back. So we replace him with D'Anthony Thomas.

 

Round 3 Pick 8 (MINN): Jarvis Landry, WR, LSU (A)

Round 3 Pick 26: Dion Bailey, FS, Dion Bailey, FS, Southern California (A)

Round 3 Pick 32 (MINN): Dee Ford, OLB, Auburn (A)

Round 5 Pick 8 (MINN): Stanley Jean-Baptiste, CB, Nebraska (A)

Round 5 Pick 26: Caraun Reid, DT, Princeton (A)

Round 6 Pick 27: Deandre Coleman, DT, California (B-)

Round 7 Pick 16: De'Anthony Thomas, RB, Oregon (B)

 

This is not a realistic mock draft ... even though the trade is possible its unrealistic.  You need to stop putting trades in your mock drafts.  There are several players you are not getting as late as you have them.  We likely don't have a 6th. 

 

I know its fun to grab all the great players that fall on the simulator (I do it to), but you need to stop using it if for your mock drafts, if you want a mock draft people are going to take seriously.

[esmort]

Respectfully...

 

That's your version of events.   In my version, Brown split duty because the coaching staff WISELY realized he can't stay healthy as the primary back, so they used him in certain situations.    It's not about not wanting to be proven wrong.   Its' about properly managing your resources.    Ballard and Bradshaw were gone.   TR was not producing enough.   Brown can't go it alone.   So, splitting was the only way to last the season.

 

He would not start next year as the 3rd string.   Ballard would.   Brown and TR would start as 1 and 1a.   And with a 3/10 contract, he'd know that the franchise valued him and would use him.   

 

Honestly,   I don't see any team -- even the Raiders -- seeing Brown as a starter and paying him like one.    He hasn't played like one in any of his five years for the Colts.    Not even this year.    

 

That's my way of looking at things...

 

Of course, I have been wrong many, many times...  and will be wrong again, many, many more times!     

 

I agree ... I don't know why so many people think D. Brown is going to command this big contract.

[UKColtfanHS]

I like the Stanely Jean Baptiste pick a lot but I have a feeling he might rise higher than the 4th during the draft process...

[BProland85]

Another mock I'm pretty happy with...

 

Round 3 Pick 10 (NYG): Dion Bailey, FS, Dion Bailey, FS, Southern California (B+)
Round 3 Pick 21 (G.B.): Victor Hampton, CB, South Carolina (A-)
Round 3 Pick 26: Marcus Smith, DE, Louisville (A)
Round 4 Pick 14 (JAX): Donte Moncrief, WR, Ole Miss (A)
Round 5 Pick 26: Caraun Reid, DT, Princeton (A)
Round 6 Pick 27: Deandre Coleman, DT, California (B-)
Round 7 Pick 16: Cameron Fleming, OT, Stanford (A)