Colts See Darren Sproles Ability In Undrafted Running Back Josh Ferguson

[RockThatBlue]

http://www.colts.com/news/article-1/Colts-See-Darren-Sproles-Ability-In-Undrafted-Running-Back-Josh-Ferguson/89926103-7fcc-4ff2-91a3-e5e76e62910e

 

The more I read about him the more excited I get. 

 

I about threw up reading those games Sproles had against us in the article though. Yikes 

[GoColts00]

I think Jakeem Grant, Texas Tech was much more like Sproles. I hope Ferguson does really well with the Colts since he's an Illini

[LockeDown]

Sproles is still playing isn't he?  That guy is something else.

[RockThatBlue]

1 minute ago, LockeDown said:

Sproles is still playing isn't he?  That guy is something else.

Still plays for the Eagles I believe.

He really is unreal, he would damn near single handedly beat us by himself. We couldnt stop him to save our lives. 

[GoColtsWin]

37 minutes ago, RockThatBlue said:

Still plays for the Eagles I believe.

He really is unreal, he would damn near single handedly beat us by himself. We couldnt stop him to save our lives. 

Yeah, FredTaylor/MJD had a way of running all over us also. Always have liked Sproles. Dude just plays hard. 

[ReMeDy]

5 hours ago, LockeDown said:

Sproles is still playing isn't he?  That guy is something else.

 

Yea, and he's still good. In 2015 he was voted #81 in the top 100 players (insert Luck joke here).

Check out this 2015 highlight vid:

 

There's even two special teams return for TD's. One against the Pats. That spin move @ 0:26 was sick. Like it was so sick, I'm vomiting everywhere. It's on my monitor and everything.

A few years ago, I made a topic asking why the NFL can't clone this guy. I think people thought I was joking. Even the entire o-line. Give me a 52-man team full of Darren Sproles.

[ReMeDy]

5 hours ago, GoColtsWin said:

Yeah, FredTaylor/MJD had a way of running all over us also. Always have liked Sproles. Dude just plays hard. 

 

Thank god the only things Jacksonville had going for them was their RB's and Josh "Scooby Doo" Scobee. Oh, 59-yd FG to win the game?... NO PROBLEM!!!.

 

In one game, he had three 50+ yd FG's. At one point, Jackonsville even franchise tagged him. Yea, they franchise tagged a kicker...

[2006Coltsbestever]

14 minutes ago, ReMeDy said:

 

Thank god the only things Jacksonville had going for them was their RB's and Josh "Scooby Doo" Scobee. Oh, 59-yd FG to win the game?... NO PROBLEM!!!.

 

In one game, he had three 50+ yd FG's. At one point, Jackonsville even franchise tagged him. Yea, they franchise tagged a kicker...

I remember he beat us twice with 50+ Yard FG's, SMH.

[crazycolt1]

Dang, some of you guys are talking about some pretty depressing stuff..................On a different note yeah, it would be sweet if Ferguson could do some of those things.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

If the Colts really think Ferguson may be another Sproles you would think they would have used maybe a 7th rd. pick on him and not risk another team drafts/ signs him?

[Coltsman1788]

I never understood why the Colts did not ever try to sign Sproles.  He would have been a great fit for us.  If you can't beat the man add him to your darn team.  Solves two problems at once.  

[Defjamz26]

Sproles is very high praise. I've always said Bernard and Dunbar for him. But the Colts have needed a weapon like this for awhile.

[UKColt13]

High praise. Sproles has been one of the most undervalued offensive weapons in the league for a long time.  

[csmopar]

Yeah, and TRICH was Marshawn lynch V2.0.........

[crazycolt1]

35 minutes ago, csmopar said:

Yeah, and TRICH was Marshawn lynch V2.0.........

Sorry, no cigar. Old and lame joke that has been told too much.

[Smonroe]

Remind me again who Kerwynn Williams was supposed to be?

[csmopar]

3 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

Sorry, no cigar. Old and lame joke that has been told too much.

Wasnt a joke. After the comments said by our staff bout any running back that's played for us not named Gore since 2012, I don't put much of any stalk into their comparisons.....

[JasonABrown]

3 hours ago, Smonroe said:

Remind me again who Kerwynn Williams was supposed to be?

 

Very good point...

[Valpo2004]

Temper your expectations. . . if other NFL teams saw Darren Sproles in Ferguson then he would have been drafted in the first round.

[jvan1973]

10 hours ago, ReMeDy said:

 

Thank god the only things Jacksonville had going for them was their RB's and Josh "Scooby Doo" Scobee. Oh, 59-yd FG to win the game?... NO PROBLEM!!!.

 

In one game, he had three 50+ yd FG's. At one point, Jackonsville even franchise tagged him. Yea, they franchise tagged a kicker...

The Colts put the tag on mcafee a few years ago

[JR Indy]

Jakeem Grant (5ft 6 RB that signed with Miami, and was the fastest player coming out of college) is more like Darren Sproles.  But Josh Ferguson is in a class by himself.  I do not know why the Colts did not draft him, even though he had a third round grade on him.  This is the kind of player that would burn the Colts time and time again. I just hope he comes in TC and preseason ready to play.  If he has any type of blocking, and from all the read these last few weeks, he will.  Josh is going to surprise Colts Nation.

 

Josh Ferguson reminds, reminds me of LeSean McCoy.  He is fast, quick, and very shifty.  

[ReMeDy]

1 hour ago, jvan1973 said:

The Colts put the tag on mcafee a few years ago

 

True, got me there.

[BOTT]

Somebody somewhere is always the next Darren Sproles......

[Bleedin Blue]

The really sick thing about Sproles is that he could make a highlight video every year...he's that good.

*

[Gavin]

13 hours ago, Valpo2004 said:

Temper your expectations. . . if other NFL teams saw Darren Sproles in Ferguson then he would have been drafted in the first round.

More like the 4th or 5th round if they see Darren Sproles ability I believe....Sproles was drafted round 4 pick 130 (I've slowly learned to not like comparisons. Most often it leads to disappointment and puts added pressure on a kid).

[NewColtsFan]

11 hours ago, JR Indy said:

Jakeem Grant (5ft 6 RB that signed with Miami, and was the fastest player coming out of college) is more like Darren Sproles.  But Josh Ferguson is in a class by himself.  I do not know why the Colts did not draft him, even though he had a third round grade on him.  This is the kind of player that would burn the Colts time and time again. I just hope he comes in TC and preseason ready to play.  If he has any type of blocking, and from all the read these last few weeks, he will.  Josh is going to surprise Colts Nation.

 

Josh Ferguson reminds, reminds me of LeSean McCoy.  He is fast, quick, and very shifty.  

 

Grant was NOT a RB.      Grant was a WR.     

 

And while his height is similar to Sproles,  his body was not.     Grant is 165.      Spirals is about 190/195.

 

Much heavier and thicker.     He's a RB and needs the weight to absorb the pounding he takes.   

 

The only thing similar about the two is the height.    But there's not much more.

 

[jskinnz]

14 hours ago, JR Indy said:

Jakeem Grant (5ft 6 RB that signed with Miami, and was the fastest player coming out of college) is more like Darren Sproles.  But Josh Ferguson is in a class by himself.  I do not know why the Colts did not draft him, even though he had a third round grade on him.  This is the kind of player that would burn the Colts time and time again. I just hope he comes in TC and preseason ready to play.  If he has any type of blocking, and from all the read these last few weeks, he will.  Josh is going to surprise Colts Nation.

 

Josh Ferguson reminds, reminds me of LeSean McCoy.  He is fast, quick, and very shifty.  

 

To the bolded, if Ferguson had a 3rd round grade, why was he not drafted at all?  

[Chucklez]

My main problem with Ferguson is his prone-ness to dropping the egg, which we seem to have had a problem with in our RB's recently... Especially those we draft....

 

Delone Carter - drafted 2011 - showed promise as a big back for us, dropped the egg too much.

Josh Robinson - drafted 2015 - seemed decent in TC and a bit of pre-season... dropped the egg too much.

Ferguson dropped the egg 6 times on 145 carries in 2014 and another fumble as a receiver....

[Dustin]

I'm still waiting for Montori "Ngata 2.0" Hughes to show some promise. 

[krunk]

6 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Grant was NOT a RB.      Grant was a WR.     

 

And while his height is similar to Sproles,  his body was not.     Grant is 165.      Spirals is about 190/195.

 

Much heavier and thicker.     He's a RB and needs the weight to absorb the pounding he takes.   

 

The only thing similar about the two is the height.    But there's not much more.

 

 

Darren Sproles did not enter the leauge at 195lbs and Jakeem Grant won't stay at 165lbs either.

[Chucklez]

17 minutes ago, krunk said:

 

Darren Sproles did not enter the leauge at 195lbs and Jakeem Grant won't stay at 165lbs either.

Sproles entered the league at 187lbs... not anywhere near 165.

[krunk]

33 minutes ago, Chucklez said:

Sproles entered the league at 187lbs... not anywhere near 165.

 

Does that even matter?  Do you think Grant is going to play the rest of his career at 165lbs?   You guys act like it's super hard for someone to gain weight.  Both of them are basically tweener type of players.  Neither one of them would you line up and make them carry the football 30 carries a game.  Neither one of them will be played exclusively at WR or Running Back.  As creative as Gase is I bet Grant will get some snaps in the back field.  There's college film of Grant taking carries out of the backfield at Texas Tech.  Only reason it wasn't more is because Texas Tech does not value the running game.  They use their passing game as the running game.  If they valued it more I bet we would have seen Grant playing around 180lbs just like Sproles.

[Valpo2004]

8 hours ago, Gavin said:

More like the 4th or 5th round if they see Darren Sproles ability I believe....Sproles was drafted round 4 pick 130 (I've slowly learned to not like comparisons. Most often it leads to disappointment and puts added pressure on a kid).

 

Knowing what Darren Sproles has actually done in the NFL he would have been drafted much higher then that.

 

Tom Brady was drafted in the 6th round but if the NFL could see the player he would become he'd have gone #1 overall.  Russell Wilson was drafted in the 3rd but if the NFL could see the player he would become, he would have gone #2 overall behind Luck.

 

That's why I'm saying that if other NFL teams really saw that in him, he would have gone in the first.  2nd round at worst.

[Chucklez]

26 minutes ago, krunk said:

 

Does that even matter?  Do you think Grant is going to play the rest of his career at 165lbs?   You guys act like it's super hard for someone to gain weight.  Both of them are basically tweener type of players.  Neither one of them would you line up and make them carry the football 30 carries a game.  Neither one of them will be played exclusively at WR or Running Back.  As creative as Gase is I bet Grant will get some snaps in the back field.  There's college film of Grant taking carries out of the backfield at Texas Tech.  Only reason it wasn't more is because Texas Tech does not value the running game.  They use their passing game as the running game.  If they valued it more I bet we would have seen Grant playing around 180lbs just like Sproles.

Putting on a minimum of 15lbs in muscle and not fat isnt as easy as you think. Especially when you only have between now and August to do it. Oh and not to mention he probably already has a ton of muscle on him and building on top of that gets exponentially harder.

Grant has a smaller body frame than Sproles and throwing an extra of a minimum of 15lbs of muscle onto that is very hard. 

[NewColtsFan]

3 hours ago, krunk said:

 

Darren Sproles did not enter the leauge at 195lbs and Jakeem Grant won't stay at 165lbs either.

 

Here is Sproles data card from college.      He was 187.     He's currently listed at 190 when I looked today.

 

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=55011&draftyear=2005&genpos=RB

 

Grant is a WR, not a RB.     At 5'6" and a game built for speed,  he's NOT putting on 20 pounds.

 

He might put on 5-10,   but that's it.

 

Grant to Sproles is not the right comparison.

 

[krunk]

2 hours ago, Chucklez said:

Putting on a minimum of 15lbs in muscle and not fat isnt as easy as you think. Especially when you only have between now and August to do it. Oh and not to mention he probably already has a ton of muscle on him and building on top of that gets exponentially harder.

Grant has a smaller body frame than Sproles and throwing an extra of a minimum of 15lbs of muscle onto that is very hard. 

 

But who's saying he has to gain 20 lbs by Training Camp or even this year?  He likely can play dual roles at 170-175 lbs.  He doesn't necessarily need to be immediately 190lbs.  It's a progression so not everything needs to be done at once.  Little guy like that won't take too many head on shots.  Most people are going to miss him.  I'm just pretty sure Gase won't use him exclusively as a WR.

[Chucklez]

Little guys take head shots more unfortunately, especially when used as a RB/WR taking dump offs over the middle because their head height is precisely where LB's are used to hitting people in the chest etc.

[jameszeigler834]

On ‎5‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 7:44 AM, Defjamz26 said:

Sproles is very high praise. I've always said Bernard and Dunbar for him. But the Colts have needed a weapon like this for awhile.

I think he is a younger and stronger Bradshaw.

[lollygagger8]

Sproles = Colts Kryptonite

 

 

As much as I hate seeing him destroy us every time he's played us, I sure love watching him destroy other teams throughout the years. 

[krunk]

20 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Here is Sproles data card from college.      He was 187.     He's currently listed at 190 when I looked today.

 

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=55011&draftyear=2005&genpos=RB

 

Grant is a WR, not a RB.     At 5'6" and a game built for speed,  he's NOT putting on 20 pounds.

 

He might put on 5-10,   but that's it.

 

Grant to Sproles is not the right comparison.

 

 

You always have some kind of issue with a player doing anything else other than he did in College or some pro websites projection.  Like your thing with Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd, both who coincidentally went to 3-4 teams.  Somehow these coaches seem to think other wise.    Second of all NFLDraftScout is not the only site listing weights for players.  Most of the other internet sites have sproles listed as 181 coming out of college.  Finally there is not a rule that says "If your not at least 190lbs then you can never be used as a running back". He would be fine around 170lbs to 180lbs because it's not like somebody is going to run him 15 to 30 carries a game.   A dual use player does not have to have ideal height and size.  For that matter Grant does not even have the ideal size you would like from a WR but he'll definitely play there.  Somebody was smart enough to see that his shiftiness would translate out of the backfield as well so they scripted plays with him doing that as well.  Please believe this will happen in the pros as well.