Trying to figure out the plan

[mvbighead]

Not hard. But what I'd like to see is that we not just replace poor guys but that we actually get better and make the interior OL a strength rather than just look to be average.

 

We got cheaper there, and currently have two options at C.  They may feel good about one or both of those guys, who knows.  We also have money in Donald thomas, and fairly early pick invested in Thorton.  There is still room to improve, sure, but our weakness last year was in good part on the defense side, which is and still is being addressed.

 

As for getting better on the interior, absolutely.  But reaching for the stars on a guy like Alex Mack is only going to limit who we can re-sign in the next year or two.  I'd much prefer they let the market value drop on these other guys and reach for one of them at around 5 over 20/30. Paying a guy like Mack 10/year may make everyone excited, but if he goes down, you are no better.  If you spread that money around a bit, you can set something up that allows this team to improve in other areas.

 

Long story short, having the best C in the league won't help us win games if it keeps us from retaining talented players on our roster.  In other words, I see no problem paying Luck upwards of 18-20 a year as he is in a premium position, but 10/year on a center just seems a bit much.

 

And while you didn't mention Mack, if you're referring to make the interior a strength, I would figure him to be the only guy out there that could really do that.  As far as I'm concerned, we are no worse now than we were last year with Satele.  Costa could be a middle of the pack kinda guy, but that'd still be a decent improvement.

[theanarchist]

We got cheaper there, and currently have two options at C.  They may feel good about one or both of those guys, who knows.  We also have money in Donald thomas, and fairly early pick invested in Thorton.  There is still room to improve, sure, but our weakness last year was in good part on the defense side, which is and still is being addressed.

 

As for getting better on the interior, absolutely.  But reaching for the stars on a guy like Alex Mack is only going to limit who we can re-sign in the next year or two.  I'd much prefer they let the market value drop on these other guys and reach for one of them at around 5 over 20/30. Paying a guy like Mack 10/year may make everyone excited, but if he goes down, you are no better.  If you spread that money around a bit, you can set something up that allows this team to improve in other areas.

 

Long story short, having the best C in the league won't help us win games if it keeps us from retaining talented players on our roster.  In other words, I see no problem paying Luck upwards of 18-20 a year as he is in a premium position, but 10/year on a center just seems a bit much.

 

And while you didn't mention Mack, if you're referring to make the interior a strength, I would figure him to be the only guy out there that could really do that.  As far as I'm concerned, we are no worse now than we were last year with Satele.  Costa could be a middle of the pack kinda guy, but that'd still be a decent improvement.

I was not implying that we should go get Mack. I think that is a bit of a pipe dream and as you state if he costs us 10 mil a year that's going to be prohibitive down the road. So, really I'm just trying to figure where this is all leading to. I don't see that we really gained any ground by signing Costa but as you say I guess it did save us salary because Satele was going to cost 5 mil vs Costa's 1.5 or whatever it was.

[#12]

A couple of things to remember about the O-line play in 2013:  Everyone, outside of Richardson, ran the ball well.  Outside of Richardson, the Colts were a good running team.  Also, once the play calling improved toward the end of the season, the sacks dropped.  Once Pep started getting ahead on early downs and stopped consistently putting Luck in 2nd and long and 3rd and long, the pass protection improved.  So, the organization may be looking at all of this differently than we are.  Perhaps they're thinking that if Pep ups his game and there is less of Richardson(as we saw toward season's end) the situation may not be as dire as it once seemed.  So, they may be thinking, yes, Satele did suck, but let's stick to the blueprint and not allocate an inordinate amout of resources to the C position and interior line play. 

[mvbighead]

I was not implying that we should go get Mack. I think that is a bit of a pipe dream and as you state if he costs us 10 mil a year that's going to be prohibitive down the road. So, really I'm just trying to figure where this is all leading to. I don't see that we really gained any ground by signing Costa but as you say I guess it did save us salary because Satele was going to cost 5 mil vs Costa's 1.5 or whatever it was.

 

Yep, didn't gain any ground, but didn't really lose much either. And since we gained from a cap perspective, it's a win.  I won't say I expect much from Costa, but he doesn't exactly have the biggest shoes to fill.

[wig]

Ya, I think we could probably draft a WR this year. One thing I will say is that if we could get Nicks for say 1m or 1.5 for this one year and see how it goes, it isn't a big risk. It could be a huge upside. More so than that flier we took on DHB. DHB has always had the reputation of having stone hands, atleast Nicks at one time was a playmaker.

 

1m for Nicks?  Oh my.

[theanarchist]

1m for Nicks?  Oh my.

Well, I think it would be hard to give a guy like Nicks a 1 year deal for very much more than that. It would be a win win for him and the team really. Play this one year, be on a team with a good QB and a chance to catch a lot of balls, make the playoffs, and then cash in next year. I just cant see taking much more of a risk on him than that

[wig]

Well, I think it would be hard to give a guy like Nicks a 1 year deal for very much more than that. It would be a win win for him and the team really. Play this one year, be on a team with a good QB and a chance to catch a lot of balls, make the playoffs, and then cash in next year. I just cant see taking much more of a risk on him than that

 

A 1m dollar deal is in no way shape or form a win, or realistic for him.

[theanarchist]

A 1m dollar deal is in no way shape or form a win, or realistic for him.

You're probably right. I see that Carolina wants him. So, there is a market for him. He'll probably cash in but that doesn't change my opinion that we don't need to take a chance on him.