Is This Seriously The 2015 Colts Defense?

[ColtStronger]

Our N.ewly E.ngaged football friends may be spiking the water. I sure hope not.

I see what you did there lol

[Jason_]

when the acquisitions were first consumated. 

 

huh?

[ColtsFanMikeC]

If you noticed in your post every player that worked out is on offense besides a backup OLB in Newsome. The posters thread is about defense...  just saying!

 

Grigson has 3 drafts that we know how players turned out on -- I would argue really 1 draft, possibly 2 as it is common for players to take 2-3 years in the league before showing what they have.

 

He came into take over the worst team in the league, hence he had the number 1 draft pick.  He took Andrew Luck (imagine he took RG3 which was an actual debate at the time, we would be in terrible shape). 

 

It makes 100% sense, if you just drafted a #1 overall QB who we hope will be our franchise QB for the next decade or longer, to focus on surrounding him with talent.  Besides an aging Reggie Wayne, there was very little offensive talent left in Indy when Grigs took over.

 

Now that we have an offense that can win basically on its own, he has started focusing on defense.  He has signed some older veterans to make up for his inability to focus on the D in the drafts and this year we already have 2 rookies on D starting.  Will they turn out all right? We don't know, but they are still starting players in the NFL.

[Dark_Indy]

I truly thought Grigson would do something to improve a defense that got shredded by NE twice last season. Instead of aggressively trying to improve the defense, with his trademark "swing for the fences" trades, Grigson has done really nothing to improve it. He cut two of his terrible draft picks in Chapman and Hughes, and replaced them with two more of his draft picks. With Grigson's poor draft record, I have no choice but to be pessimistic on both Parry and Anderson. I just can't help but think that more should have been done to improve the defense, and it appears that Grigson has again failed upgrading our defense

 

 

So.... by removing most of the awful players and upgrading to new players, he has done nothing?

 

Just to give you a heads up, NONE of the players that were on the defensive line that got gashed twice last year by the Patriots are going to be playing in a horseshoe this year. Chapman? Gone. Hughes? Gone. Jean-Francois? Gone. Redding? Gone. 

 

We went out, and grabbed a starter quality D-Lineman in Kendall Langford. The only reason he was let go? The Rams drafted an All-Pro DL in Robert Quinn. We added what has been said many times as the "steal of the draft" in Henry Anderson. We haven't whiffed on Stanford guys yet, and I'm not going to be pessimistic about Anderson and Parry after I saw what they did in the preseason. Those two guys exceeded expectations for being later picks in the draft.

 

What about linebackers? We grabbed Nate Irving, a young ILB from the Broncos who had an injury, but otherwise was really solid in his playing time. He's also a great run stopper, and the risk vs reward for him panning out is actually quite in our favor.

With the exception of Bjoern Werner, I would say all of our LBs are average to above average in skill. We don't have an elite linebacker, but that's ok. You don't need (and you won't get) superstars at every position. 

 

Secondary? We upgraded that quite a bit. Landry is gone, Lowery is a veteran addition, with Geathers coming in at safety and dime linebacker. Geathers may also be our solution to the tight end problem we tend to have. We also have one of the best cover corners in the league in Vontae; and regardless of how good he is, Djoun Smith is an upgrade over Josh Gordy. Plain and simple

 

So, no. I don't agree with your assessment. I believe we have upgraded our defense quite a bit. What would you have rather seen? Ndamukong Suh? No way he was getting that kind of money from Indy. Terrance Knighton? He's getting up there in age for a D-Lineman. We probably would have had to overpay for the production. I think we will be fine with who we have.

[Superman]

huh?

 

when the acquisitions were first consumated. 

 

What part of that don't you understand? Are you thick???

[Jim H.]

I truly thought Grigson would do something to improve a defense that got shredded by NE twice last season. Instead of aggressively trying to improve the defense, with his trademark "swing for the fences" trades, Grigson has done really nothing to improve it. He cut two of his terrible draft picks in Chapman and Hughes, and replaced them with two more of his draft picks. With Grigson's poor draft record, I have no choice but to be pessimistic on both Parry and Anderson. I just can't help but think that more should have been done to improve the defense, and it appears that Grigson has again failed upgrading our defense

Perhaps you should move your pessimism over to the Texans or Patriots board and be a fan of one of those teams.

[steveeoaktree33]

Although I too was a bit ( well more than a bit if I'm honest) apprehensive when they decided to go to the younger players, I am really looking forward to seeing them develop. Every team needs the right chemistry and energy so I'll just support my team as I always have. It's gonna be tough getting through the first half of the season, but when Parry, Anderson, Mewhort and others get their feet under them it will get better. There are plenty of vets there to help them along. Kudos to Griggs for having the guts to do it. Can't wait to see what Robinson and Dorsett can do as well.

[RockThatBlue]

- Added Nate Irving (a stud run stopper; such a luxury to have him as a backup)

- Added Trent Cole (veteran pass rusher)

- Added Parry and Anderson (those of us that followed their careers at standard understand why they immediately displaced the under-performing duo of Chapman and Hughes; these 2 set-up outstanding moves together along Stanford's defensive line; yes these 2 are rookies but DL is a position in which NFL rookies can make an impact early on)

- Added Kendall Langford (an absolute perfect fit for the Colts' 3-4)

- Added Dwight Lowery (he will look like the second coming of Ronnie Lott compared to Steroids McGee Landry)

- Added DJ Smith (kid has a bright future and immediately bolstered secondary depth; allowed for the release of Josh Touchdown-Allowing Gordy)

- Added Clayton Geathers (finally someone that can create matchup problems from a defensive perspective; has the size to cover TEs and the speed to cover RBs out of the backfield)

- Robert Mathis returns (enough said)

Sio Moore, T.Y. McGill, etc.

I'd say the defense had a pretty major overhaul.

The former players were NOT getting the job done. Let's give this new group a shot.

Agreed with all of this.

Can now add trading for a solid depth d lineman in billy winn.

[Lawrence Owen]

Another thing to think about is these new guys are not always working together.  They were put on 1st team and selected namely of individual performances via preseason.  They each outperformed the guys listed ahead of them that played last year 1st team.  

Now all those individual performances will get to work together and build a rep together, for better or for worse.  

I personally Have alot of optimism they will be better than last years.