Top 10 Defense or Top 10 Offensive Line

[Bluefire4]

I'm not saying that either of these things could happen next year, and I'm not saying both could happen next year. I just want opinions on which would be more important to the success of the team.

 

Going through draft threads, I've seen it split on focusing more on defense, and gravitating toward offensive line help. I wanted to create this thread to see which is more paramount.

 

Would you rather get 3 defensive improvements to 1 offensive line improvement or vice versa? 

 

I personally believe its more important to get more talent on the defense. If we only improve one offensive line position, I think we can tailor the offensive around getting the ball out of Luck's hands quickly after looking at offenses like the Patriots and Bengals. 

 

But I also see the side of totally reestablishing the offensive line to give Luck a running game he has never had.

 

What do you think?

 

[COLTS449]

If I had to pick one it'd be the offensive line. If Luck had an OL like Dallas does we'd put up 40 a game lol. You absolutely have to protect your franchise QB. He was injured this year because of Grigson making such bad choices and not bringing in quality talent on the OL. But in all seriousness I don't think its out of the realm of possibility that we couldn't have both this year. I know a lot of people are going to think I'm being a homer and what not, but its like this. We have the money to fill some major holes and a pretty good spot in the draft at 18. So lets say we signed Kelechi Osemele, Sean Smith, and Bruce Irvin . Then drafted Noah Spence and Nick Martin with our first two picks. Wouldn't that possibly give us a top 10 defense, and a top 10 OL? Our OL would be Castanzo-Osemele-Martin-Mewhort-Reitz. That looks like a top 10 OL IMO. The on D we know we have some really nice pieces on the D-Line. But with Irvin and Spence we'd have 2 guys who could put consistent pressure on the QB and either one of those guys could put up big sack numbers if not both. Then We'd have an absolute lethal cornerback duo with Davis and Smith. So if you have a solid  all around DL, 2 really good ILB's, OLB's who can put consistent pressure on the QB and 2 shut down corners, it seems like you'd have a top 10 D. Not to mention a pretty good safety in Adams

[NewColtsFan]

 

More important to the success of the team?

 

A top-10 offensive line....

 

Because the rules favor offense over defense.     Have a top o-line and your offense should be in every game.

 

As for the D,  well,  I'll happily settle for a D-line that would be viewed as the 11th best.

 

[jbaron04]

Offensive line we wouldn't even need d lol jk but yea oline 

[WoolMagnet]

I'd REALLY like to see Andrew get some time to throw.  We'll have TY, Moncrief, and Dorsett at the very least. Andrew with weapons and blocking.  

I'd take a very good OL and average defense.(with a good pass rush)

[GoColts00]

Top-5 Defense with Top-15 Offense will win Championships.

[Dustin]

Top 10 defense easily.

[mikey287]

The offensive line is the lifeblood, the spine, the heart, whatever you want to call it, of a team...it is critical. A strong offensive line can cover for a lot more blemishes than anything else in football...

[Dennis Ramsey_5088]

Defense wins championships!!! but at the same time Luck is not that good throwing from his butt!!! both need improved. A lot of the problem was coaching of O line. I like the coaching changes going on. Not sure if its the answer.

 

[ColtRider]

To be quite honest, I'll take both. However, defense is foremost & paramount. If the Colts would've had a Top 5 defense from 1999-2010? 

 

OH MY! (I guarantee you, Peyton would not have had multiple one & dones with Indianapolis!)

[csmopar]

16 hours ago, Bluefire4 said:

I'm not saying that either of these things could happen next year, and I'm not saying both could happen next year. I just want opinions on which would be more important to the success of the team.

 

Going through draft threads, I've seen it split on focusing more on defense, and gravitating toward offensive line help. I wanted to create this thread to see which is more paramount.

 

Would you rather get 3 defensive improvements to 1 offensive line improvement or vice versa? 

 

I personally believe its more important to get more talent on the defense. If we only improve one offensive line position, I think we can tailor the offensive around getting the ball out of Luck's hands quickly after looking at offenses like the Patriots and Bengals. 

 

But I also see the side of totally reestablishing the offensive line to give Luck a running game he has never had.

 

What do you think?

 

I'd go offensiveline.

 

Why, well for one, our DL itself did fairly good considering 2 rookies were starting. I think Anderson will be a beast in a year or 2 barring injury. Parry is gonna develop and be solid, Langford is very good. It's our LB core that needs upgraded.

 

 

Plus, as  Sandra said in blindside,

 

The first check you write is for the mortgage( Luck), the second check is for the insurance  (OL).  We've not been getting quality insurance

[aaron11]

Defense,  the line would have to be top five or higher to be worth it.

 

We don't have the running backs to really take advantage either

[aaron11]

10th best line is nothing special

[ColtStrong]

I'd take OL. Give Luck time to throw and we can outscore anyone.

[Dark Superman]

When is the last time the Colts had a dominant defense? The 1960's?

[Valpo2004]

Defense easily.  Which team has been more successful as of recent?  The Seahawks or the Cowboys?  Both are the best out there in one of those aspects and suspect at the other.

 

A good QB can make up for a bad OL if he doesn't feel pressured to score on every possession.  Just use quick throws underneath, a lot of good to elite QB's are making their living this way and doing it without top 10 OL.

 

The other way around isn't as easy to make up for.  No matter how good your QB and OL, you simply can not win every shootout.

 

[Indyfan4life]

2 hours ago, SupermanLuck12 said:

When is the last time the Colts had a dominant defense? The 1960's?

Bob Sanders says hello. 

[OffensivelyPC]

Defense, no question. We have a QB that can mask a lot of OL deficiencies. Our secondary isn't good enough to cover long enough to compensate for a below average pass rush.

[Indyfan4life]

1 hour ago, OffensivelyPC said:

Defense, no question. We have a QB that can mask a lot of OL deficiencies. Our secondary isn't good enough to cover long enough to compensate for a below average pass rush.

You can only mask so much for so long. This season should tell you that. 

[OffensivelyPC]

1 minute ago, Indyfan4life said:

You can only mask so much for so long. This season should tell you that. 

It was an either/or question...

[Indyfan4life]

8 minutes ago, OffensivelyPC said:

It was an either/or question...

Okay, and? You gave your answer in defense, and I gave mine in offense. You said Luck can mask deficiency, but only so much and it caught up with him. Not sure how that isn't a valid answer. 

[OffensivelyPC]

11 minutes ago, Indyfan4life said:

Okay, and? You gave your answer in defense, and I gave mine in offense. You said Luck can mask deficiency, but only so much and it caught up with him. Not sure how that isn't a valid answer. 

I guess I didn't take it that way and took it as just simply being argumentative... my bad. 

 

The bottom line is, yes, Luck's injury is a one year lesson that we should learn to better protect our QB.  At the same token, Peyton Manning's career in Indy is a 14 year lesson that we should learn that we're not going anywhere in the playoffs without a better defense.  What good is it if we keep Luck on his feet if we can't stop the other team?

[crazycolt1]

7 hours ago, Valpo2004 said:

Defense easily.  Which team has been more successful as of recent?  The Seahawks or the Cowboys?  Both are the best out there in one of those aspects and suspect at the other.

 

A good QB can make up for a bad OL if he doesn't feel pressured to score on every possession.  Just use quick throws underneath, a lot of good to elite QB's are making their living this way and doing it without top 10 OL.

 

The other way around isn't as easy to make up for.  No matter how good your QB and OL, you simply can not win every shootout.

 

Yes the dink and dunk passes has made teams winners even without great receivers. You don't even have to have a good running game either.

[crazycolt1]

12 minutes ago, OffensivelyPC said:

I guess I didn't take it that way and took it as just simply being argumentative... my bad. 

 

The bottom line is, yes, Luck's injury is a one year lesson that we should learn to better protect our QB.  At the same token, Peyton Manning's career in Indy is a 14 year lesson that we should learn that we're not going anywhere in the playoffs without a better defense.  What good is it if we keep Luck on his feet if we can't stop the other team?

Cant overlook the special teams either. How many leads did we see where Manning had a lead or put the team in a position to win just to see the special teams give up huge returns that lead to kicking a FG or score a TD to lose the game?

[OffensivelyPC]

1 minute ago, crazycolt1 said:

Cant overlook the special teams either. How many leads did we see where Manning had a lead or put the team in a position to win just to see the special teams give up huge returns that lead to kicking a FG or score a TD to lose the game?

And let's not forget stupid coaching decisions like 2010 I believe it was when Jim Caldwell basically called a timeout for the Jets so they could have more time to get in field goal range.  The only loss in the playoffs that I'm not totally over more so than that game is the 1995 playoffs loss to the Steelers where we totally got screwed by the refs.

[Douzer]

Defense.

A dominate D can score points, provide short fields for an offense, create turnovers, cause opposition to overreach and make errors, etc. The reason this franchise has but 1 Lombardi trophy since 84 is because it has been top heavy on the offensive side of the ball.

Now it's worth adding that you need both to succeed, but a top ten D will take you further. 

I'll go another step and argue that a great O-line has more value than a great receiving core. No defense can cover average level NFL receivers when a QB has all day to throw. Great O-Lines can make everyone on an offense look like pro-bowlers.

[crazycolt1]

3 hours ago, Douzer said:

Defense.

A dominate D can score points, provide short fields for an offense, create turnovers, cause opposition to overreach and make errors, etc. The reason this franchise has but 1 Lombardi trophy since 84 is because it has been top heavy on the offensive side of the ball.

Now it's worth adding that you need both to succeed, but a top ten D will take you further. 

I'll go another step and argue that a great O-line has more value than a great receiving core. No defense can cover average level NFL receivers when a QB has all day to throw. Great O-Lines can make everyone on an offense look like pro-bowlers.

Makes sense.

[DalTXColtsFan]

If we could put together a dominant, run-blocking, clock-chewing OL that alone would raise the defensive ranking 10 spots because we could forcefeed Gore the ball and take 6 minutes off the clock every offensive possession, limiting the number of plays the defense sees the field and keeping them fresh.

 

That for me would be step 1.  Step 2 would be to add 2 pass rushers to the defense a la when we had Freeney and Mathis in the Manning days.  Let's face it, if we have the kind of OL that can run the ball and set up play action Luck, Hilton, Dorsett, Fleener/Allen are going to be unstoppable and we'll be playing half the season with the lead.  Get the lead, chew up the clock and force the other team to throw.  Game over.

[SilentHill]

top-10 offensive line hands down, we could easily have 10min drives with a top 10 o-line.

 

The best defense is a good offense.

[TheRustonRifle#7]

I am greedy BOTH! Though if I had to choose.......................Defense.

[throwing BBZ]

On 1/17/2016 at 0:55 PM, Valpo2004 said:

Defense easily.  Which team has been more successful as of recent?  The Seahawks or the Cowboys?  Both are the best out there in one of those aspects and suspect at the other.

 

A good QB can make up for a bad OL if he doesn't feel pressured to score on every possession.  Just use quick throws underneath, a lot of good to elite QB's are making their living this way and doing it without top 10 OL.

 

The other way around isn't as easy to make up for.  No matter how good your QB and OL, you simply can not win every shootout.

 

 

 This explains it nicely. Big play loves the long ball Andrew beaten and on his ___!

[Valpo2004]

On 1/18/2016 at 7:57 PM, crazycolt1 said:

Yes the dink and dunk passes has made teams winners even without great receivers. You don't even have to have a good running game either.

 

This is something I hope Chud emphasizes more to Andrew.  Stretching the field and long passes are always going to have their place, but even with the speedsters on our team we can't just rely on this too often.  

 

Shoot the year Tom Brady is having despite the fact that his OL has seen a million injuries and I believe both Nate Soldier and Sebastion Vollmer are out right now.  He's also lost RB's and lost Endleman for a while but got him back for playoffs.  He just dink and dunks down the field.  Just hits those high percentage passes and lets a defensive breakdown or great running by his receivers for the big plays.  And his defense makes it so he knows he doesn't have to score with every possession.    

[Steamboat_Shaun]

Defense. The better the defense is, the more possessions the offense gets. Plus, a mediocre o-line can be schemed around & neutralized with quick passing plays. Mediocre defense cannot.

[Chucklez]

On 1/16/2016 at 11:55 PM, Bluefire4 said:

I'm not saying that either of these things could happen next year, and I'm not saying both could happen next year. I just want opinions on which would be more important to the success of the team.

 

Going through draft threads, I've seen it split on focusing more on defense, and gravitating toward offensive line help. I wanted to create this thread to see which is more paramount.

 

Would you rather get 3 defensive improvements to 1 offensive line improvement or vice versa? 

 

I personally believe its more important to get more talent on the defense. If we only improve one offensive line position, I think we can tailor the offensive around getting the ball out of Luck's hands quickly after looking at offenses like the Patriots and Bengals. 

 

But I also see the side of totally reestablishing the offensive line to give Luck a running game he has never had.

 

What do you think?

 

The Rams, Jets and Bills have potentially the three best defensive lines in the NFL right now and their O-lines aren't bad. How have they been doing?....

Having said that, the Seahawks had a worse O-line than us and they still made the playoffs with a 10 - 6 season and they probably have the 4th best Dline in the NFL...

It's hard to say really but the answer is it's probably a different answer for different teams. I'd lean towards a top 10 O-line is more important for the Colts because if you can consistently give Andrew upwards of 3 or 4 seconds in a clean pocket then this offense would be unstoppable.

[Jason_]

On 1/17/2016 at 0:34 PM, aaron11 said:

Defense,  the line would have to be top five or higher to be worth it.

 

We don't have the running backs to really take advantage either

 

On 1/17/2016 at 0:35 PM, aaron11 said:

10th best line is nothing special

 

well there's no arguing with that "logic". 

 

 

btw, is a top 10 defense anything special?

[bayone]

he must be kept upright & healthy as without him well, we already tasted it

 

If can truly fix the OL , go for it, but the draft picks & / or Free agents better work out as a team and not just a broken gog

[SteelDragon]

I think, given the makeup of our team,  we've got to address that O-line first and foremost.  We have alot of money and talent tied up in it that still waste away without an offensive line.  We've got to maximize what strengths we do have.  This talent could unleashed hell if we could get proper blocking and protection. As we know,  the offense is probably good enough to win 11 games consistently. 

Our defense needs alot more influx of talent,  it's going to take at least two more years of Grigson can hit on most draft picks and FAs. If the offense puts up big numbers,  this defense will not be exposed as much

[CHUGGER33]

Personally I would like the better O-line.  If Luck is hurt a really good D can only take us so far. As we have seen colts go as Luck goes.

[coltsfeva]

IMO the need for a pass-rusher is paramount. The O-line is two players away from being very good (top ten). Without a pass rush, we get behind in games and it effects the offense by having to abandon the run game and rely on the downfield pass game. 

 

 

[Aaron23]

On 1/17/2016 at 7:55 PM, COLTS449 said:

If I had to pick one it'd be the offensive line. If Luck had an OL like Dallas does we'd put up 40 a game lol. You absolutely have to protect your franchise QB. He was injured this year because of Grigson making such bad choices and not bringing in quality talent on the OL. But in all seriousness I don't think its out of the realm of possibility that we couldn't have both this year. I know a lot of people are going to think I'm being a homer and what not, but its like this. We have the money to fill some major holes and a pretty good spot in the draft at 18. So lets say we signed Kelechi Osemele, Sean Smith, and Bruce Irvin . Then drafted Noah Spence and Nick Martin with our first two picks. Wouldn't that possibly give us a top 10 defense, and a top 10 OL? Our OL would be Castanzo-Osemele-Martin-Mewhort-Reitz. That looks like a top 10 OL IMO. The on D we know we have some really nice pieces on the D-Line. But with Irvin and Spence we'd have 2 guys who could put consistent pressure on the QB and either one of those guys could put up big sack numbers if not both. Then We'd have an absolute lethal cornerback duo with Davis and Smith. So if you have a solid  all around DL, 2 really good ILB's, OLB's who can put consistent pressure on the QB and 2 shut down corners, it seems like you'd have a top 10 D. Not to mention a pretty good safety in Adams

noah spence is not 1st round good