Colts listed as 28th best roster

[Coltsfan1953]

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2016/6/6/11868846/colts-roster-ranked-one-of-worst-in-nfl-andrew-luck

 

According to this article, the Colts roster listed 28th accrdo I'm sure that our roster isn't that bad.

[Clem-Dog]

Opinions are like ..... 

 

At least we're not the favorites like last year.  

[Mr. Irrelevant]

Hey, that is a positive spin on things, 28th best roster! They didn't state the 5th worst roster! 

 

Happy days! 

[Cynjin]

Gee, what a surprise, the list was compiled by PFF.  PFF also lists the Colts top 5 players and guess who is not in the top 5 in their opinion?  That's right Andrew Luck is not a top 5 player on the Colts.  However, T. Cole & J. Mewhort are.

 

I did like how Stampede Blue wrote that it was published on ESPN In$ider though.

[2006Coltsbestever]

28th but yet we just went to Title Game with the same team 2 years ago LOL. Who's worse ESPN or PFFpuke. Gore is even better than any RB we had during our 2014 run. I cant wait for opening day when we put a spanking on Detroit! Andrew is going for 4 TD's in that one on his way to 40 again.

[BigQandTheManiac]

Colts got a lot of making up to do after that debacle of a season last year.  Being hearing and reading nothing but disappointment and doubt all off season on the internet. Use this as fuel and bounce back.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, Luck12-to-Hilton13 said:

Colts got a lot of making up to do after that debacle of a season last year.  Being hearing and reading nothing but disappointment and doubt all off season on the internet. Use this as fuel and bounce back.

I even think our D.Line is better than what it was in 2014 heading into this season so is our O.Line. If we don't go 10-6 I would be shocked. We may not win 11 because the Division is better so we probably wont go 6-0 in the Division but I see 10-6 as a real possibility.

[Dustin]

EVERYONE HATEZ US GUISE!!

 

 

[Myles]

I don't think it is that bad.  However, without Luck last year, the team looked horrible.  

A list not having Luck as a Colts top 5 player is not worth crap.

[BrentMc11]

I bet Andrew Luck and Robert Mathis will have something to do with.  Carry on....

[IndyD4U]

Is that all?

We have to be better than 28th...Toler is gone

[crazycolt1]

Pre season opinions are horse dung at best. If all these so called experts and analyst were any good they would be working for the NFL not each other for face time.

[throwing BBZ]

Smells fishy and Josh Wilson writes some really bone headed stuff.

 We do have a VERY unproven roster and mostly mediocre starters.
 Surely we are in the bottom half anyway.
 Many old mo`s we are counting on in 2016 will be thrown out the door for 2017.
  Starting Monster Build Two this year IMO. And a long way to go.

[Coffeedrinker]

I'm not a fan of PFF as many on this forum know.  That being said, based on production last year I can believe it.

 

Let's face it Andrew Luck did not play well.  Yes there are circumstances and reasons and all that but the bottom line is he did not play well.

 

The WRs did not play well.Yes there are circumstances and reasons and all that but the bottom line is he did not play well.

 

The list can go on for each group and each position.

 

Now, as a fan of not only the Colts but of the NFL I can safely say:

 

I doubt very much if Luck will play as bad as last year, I think he will look more like his old self this year.

 

I think the running game will be better this year.

 

Since Harrison is still on the roster, it's hard to say the line will be better.  Btu as long as Harrison gets cut or ride the pine all year the line should be better.

 

As long as the Colts don't try to start Jones but jsut keep him as a rotiational player, I think we will see huge jumps from Andersn and Parry this year as well as continued improvement from langford.

 

The OLB situaton is still poor, IMO.  Mathis did start to look like himself laste last season but he is it at OLB.  Walden is a solid player, I'm not worried about his production but he does not provide a consistent pass rush (nor is it his job)

 

ILB, I think the Colts are pretty good there.  DQ, Moore, Irving can all play and play well.

 

CB, I think the Colts are solid to good, some of that depends on who is the nickle CB.  Most people were not impressed with Butler last year, I have not been impressed with him for a couple of years.

 

Safety... is an unknown.  It should not be tough to replace Lowery but you never know.  Lowery didn't do anything special last year but you could count on him to be where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

33 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

I'm not a fan of PFF as many on this forum know.  That being said, based on production last year I can believe it.

 

Let's face it Andrew Luck did not play well.  Yes there are circumstances and reasons and all that but the bottom line is he did not play well.

 

The WRs did not play well.Yes there are circumstances and reasons and all that but the bottom line is he did not play well.

 

The list can go on for each group and each position.

 

Now, as a fan of not only the Colts but of the NFL I can safely say:

 

I doubt very much if Luck will play as bad as last year, I think he will look more like his old self this year.

 

I think the running game will be better this year.

 

Since Harrison is still on the roster, it's hard to say the line will be better.  Btu as long as Harrison gets cut or ride the pine all year the line should be better.

 

As long as the Colts don't try to start Jones but jsut keep him as a rotiational player, I think we will see huge jumps from Andersn and Parry this year as well as continued improvement from langford.

 

The OLB situaton is still poor, IMO.  Mathis did start to look like himself laste last season but he is it at OLB.  Walden is a solid player, I'm not worried about his production but he does not provide a consistent pass rush (nor is it his job)

 

ILB, I think the Colts are pretty good there.  DQ, Moore, Irving can all play and play well.

 

CB, I think the Colts are solid to good, some of that depends on who is the nickle CB.  Most people were not impressed with Butler last year, I have not been impressed with him for a couple of years.

 

Safety... is an unknown.  It should not be tough to replace Lowery but you never know.  Lowery didn't do anything special last year but you could count on him to be where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there.

 

The fact that Holmes was let go and Harrison was kept around (this cut came after hiring a new OL coach), leads me to believe the team still has some sort of faith/hope about Harrison.  I am not so optimistic, but it seems like he has been working more as a RG than a C this offseason.  It also sounds like we'll be switching to a zone blocking scheme, which is what Harrison is familiar with from his college days.  Again, I'm not too optimistic on him, but he could very well improve with a new coach, a new scheme and a new position.

 

When healthy or D averaged giving up a full yard less per carry against the run when Art Jones was in.  The guy can play (if he is healthy).  Chances are he is going to be healthier at the start of the season than Anderson.  I agree with you that our DL will need a rotation (to keep players fresh and healthy, and because we have a pretty versatile DL where different personnel/match-ups will be beneficial to us. 

 

Also, in regard to safety -- I am pretty sure the coaching staff is confident enough in Geathers to the point where they didn't have any problem watching Lowery walk.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

5 hours ago, Clem-Dog said:

Opinions are like ..... 

 

At least we're not the favorites like last year.  

You rather be considered one of the worst than one of the best???

[DougDew]

Sigh.  Don'tcha know by now.  That Indy, the "town" with a covered stadium, small market, and nice fans, isn't a real football place.  Therefore, it never has a real football team.

 

Its only success is due to the undeniably great QB who has to strap the whole team on his back.  He himself being a victim of poor management, reflective of the dullards in Indiana who don't understand real football.

[Superman]

Let's talk about this in January...

[LJpalmbeacher2]

1 minute ago, Superman said:

Let's talk about this in January...

 

I have a feeling we'll be talking about it sooner.

 

[Coffeedrinker]

11 hours ago, Superman said:

Let's talk about this in January...

We can only talk about the roster after the season?

[OffensivelyPC]

Bears...Browns...Battlestar Galactica

[Clem-Dog]

13 hours ago, LJpalmbeacher said:

You rather be considered one of the worst than one of the best???

 

All it is is a consideration.  I'd rather the Colts not have all the pressure that comes along with being considered a preseason favorite.  

 

Personally I feel the Colts have a very good roster.  And after seeing them battle the likes of Denver, New England and Carolina last season, I don't need an article to validate my belief in them  as a contender.

[Restored]

This team is definitely not THAT bad. Here's my thoughts:

 

Defense:

The Good

-Langford, Parry (coming back from ACL) and Jones (if he can stay healthy) can help shore up the defensive line that has been a crutch since the Grigson/Pagano era began.

-The defense overall was better against the run last year than it has been for most of the Pagano era. If the defense can build on this, they should be in a good position heading into this year.

-Davis can improve upon on his performance last season while Patrick Robinson should be a clear upgrade over Greg Toler.

-Geathers appears to be looking good in OTA's and showed some flashes last season while Adams should be adequate unless his age finally catches up to him this season.

 

The Bad

-The LB core is clearly the weak point of the defense. Adding Ted Monachino should help given his history with LB's but the overall talent just isn't there. Losing Freeman is also a big hit. Trent Cole was a disappointment for most of the season until later in the year. Robert Mathis is a year older while Erik Walden won't contribute much more than he already has to this point.

-Darius Butler continues to be a liability in coverage outside the slot and didn't look all that impressive last year in the slot vs. his previous seasons. Once you move past Davis and Robinson, the CB position looks very sparse.

 

Offense:

The Good

-The offensive line should be improved by simply adding Ryan Kelly and Joe Philbin. Kelly will help Luck with a number of his calls at the LOS while Philbin should help the players be more sound from a technical perspective. I believe this is a critical part of the offensive line's success that might've been a major factor in the line's shortcomings. However, some questions still remain.

-The WR core should be improved with a healthy Dorsett and another year of experience for Donte' Moncrief and T.Y. Hilton.

-Luck being healthy speaks for itself. However, him improving and cleaning up his bad habits will be the difference.

 

The Bad

-The offensive line continues to be a major question mark despite the addition of Kelly. Reitz appears to be a good fit at RT but is injury-prone. Castanzo had an off-year last year so there is some question as to whether he will rebound or not. The RG position continues to be the biggest question mark with no definitive player standing out to fill this position.

-The RB position has grown into a bit of a question mark as well. Gore is in the last year of his deal while the slots behind him appear to be muddled at best. If Gore were to miss any time due to injury, the lack of depth will become apparent very quickly.

 

Biggest Addition:

It's a bit of a no-brainer but the coaching staff changes should be the biggest help to the team. Joe Philbin has had some success in the past working with offensive linemen and players appear to be receptive to him thus far. Chudzinski will able to implement his full offense that has seen success when he was in both Cleveland and Carolina. Brain Schottenheimer should bring some fresh perspective to Luck as well as help him clean up some of his bad habits. Ted Monachino has had a history of working well with LB's from his time in Baltimore and should align more philosophically with Pagano given their work history.

 

[Steamboat_Shaun]

I'd buy that we're not in the top 10 as far as rosters go, but 28th is looney toons. There are not 27 better NFL rosters, I don't care what anyone says.

[pgt_rob]

21 hours ago, Dustin said:

EVERYONE HATEZ US GUISE!!

 

 

 

The past couple years everyone said we were the dream team. I like this approach better, nobody gives a crap about the Colts. lol

[Jason_]

21 hours ago, Myles said:

I don't think it is that bad.  However, without Luck last year, the team looked horrible.  

A list not having Luck as a Colts top 5 player is not worth crap.

 

actually, the team looked better last year withOUT Luck than it did with him.

[Superman]

4 hours ago, Coffeedrinker said:

We can only talk about the roster after the season?

 

To be honest, we can talk about whatever we want whenever we want. I was being facetious.

 

But I wasn't talking about discussing the roster, I was talking more specifically about ranking rosters. Some of these teams (probably a lot of them) that people are so excited about right now won't wind up being as good as they're expected; the 2015 Colts are an example of that. And the opposite is true, some of these rosters that don't look so hot right now might wind up being better than expected.

 

And that's without mentioning the fact that PFF is traditionally terrible at projecting performance or judging value. Prime example is Trent Cole being one of the Colts top five players, while Andrew Luck is not.

[NewColtsFan]

6 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

To be honest, we can talk about whatever we want whenever we want. I was being facetious.

 

But I wasn't talking about discussing the roster, I was talking more specifically about ranking rosters. Some of these teams (probably a lot of them) that people are so excited about right now won't wind up being as good as they're expected; the 2015 Colts are an example of that. And the opposite is true, some of these rosters that don't look so hot right now might wind up being better than expected.

 

And that's without mentioning the fact that PFF is traditionally terrible at projecting performance or judging value. Prime example is Trent Cole being one of the Colts top five players, while Andrew Luck is not.

 

I was literally laughing out loud when I read that in the original article.    That would stop a charging rhino dead in its tracks!

 

I double checked the story and they say that these "rankings" are based on the last two years with more emphasis given to '15 than to "14.      So,  that might explain Luck....   his work last year was terrible.     But it wouldn't explain Cole, because his work last year was also terrible.     

 

As I wrote on an ESPN comments section....    if your formal produces a result where Andrew Luck ISN'T a top-5 player for the Colts and Trent Cole IS,   then you should throw out your formula and start all over again.

 

I don't much care that PFF had us as 28th,   but once the formula is found badly wanting,  I no longer paid attention to it.         What's the saying:   Garbage in --- Garbage out!!

 

[GoColts8818]

Don't care as we saw last year pre-season rankings before training camp even starts don't mean much.

[Superman]

14 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

I double checked the story and they say that these "rankings" are based on the last two years with more emphasis given to '15 than to "14.      So,  that might explain Luck....   his work last year was terrible.     But it wouldn't explain Cole, because his work last year was also terrible.  

 

Agreed all around.

 

But let's say the issue isn't with Trent Cole. Let's say he had a pretty good year, while Luck had a pretty bad year. Who is going to have the better year in 2016?

 

That's one of the biggest problems with PFF, they leave little room for future performance improvement, nor do they disregard anomalies in their grading. Luck having a bad year is an anomaly (assuming it doesn't happen again). There's no reason not to adjust for that in their write up.

 

And Luck is kind of the perfect test case to see PFF's flaws, because he's not a conventional QB. His value can't be judged by his accuracy percentage or how long he hold the ball. We know Luck has a few kinks to iron out, but he can have three bad quarters, then explode in the fourth and get the win. The Titans game, even the Panthers game, are perfect examples. PFF would give Luck offsetting positive/negative marks on a play where he holds the ball a little too long but shakes off a defender and makes a great throw downfield, when the reality is that those plays are what make Luck a playmaker to begin with. His value isn't quantifiable by charting and play-by-play grading.

 

Again, PFF refuses to adjust for these things. As you said, garbage in, garbage out. 

[Clem-Dog]

35 minutes ago, Jason_S said:

 

actually, the team looked better last year withOUT Luck than it did with him.

 

I know your post is in jest but I'll bite.  Strength of schedule was the primary factor, and Luck played very well against a gauntlet of hellish defenses, while nursing multiple injuries.   

 

The fact you can joke about it is more a testament to Luck's pain tolerance (toughness) versus his skill level.

[Jason_]

17 minutes ago, Clem-Dog said:

 

I know your post is in jest but I'll bite.  Strength of schedule was the primary factor, and Luck played very well against a gauntlet of hellish defenses, while nursing multiple injuries.   

 

The fact you can joke about it is more a testament to Luck's pain tolerance (toughness) versus his skill level.

 

actually my post wasn't in jest at all.  The only game Luck played "very well" in was the Denver game, and injuries were not responsible for all of his poor play.  Some of it was simply him making bad decisions.

 

[Clem-Dog]

14 minutes ago, Jason_S said:

 

actually my post wasn't in jest at all.  The only game Luck played "very well" in was the Denver game, and injuries were not responsible for all of his poor play.  Some of it was simply him making bad decisions.

 

 

Therein lies the difference between Luck and many other QBs in that he is directly responsible for his team's success.  He has not had the luxury of hiding behind a dominant defense and/or an above-par running game.  

 

To the bolded.  Nobody said his mistakes were totally because of injuries, but considering his drop-off from the previous season, one could easily justify that injuries had an overwhelming effect on his ability to continue to play at an elite level.  

[ztboiler]

17 minutes ago, Clem-Dog said:

 

Therein lies the difference between Luck and many other QBs in that he is directly responsible for his team's success.  He has not had the luxury of hiding behind a dominant defense and/or an above-par running game.  

 

To the bolded.  Nobody said his mistakes were totally because of injuries, but considering his drop-off from the previous season, one could easily justify that injuries had an overwhelming effect on his ability to continue to play at an elite level.  

The biggest difference between Luck and other QBs is that he has been so good so soon in his career that we don't have to make excuses for him when he is not.

[Clem-Dog]

Thanks.  However, I don't feel like stating facts is the same as making excuses.

[Jason_]

42 minutes ago, Clem-Dog said:

 

Therein lies the difference between Luck and many other QBs in that he is directly responsible for his team's success.  He has not had the luxury of hiding behind a dominant defense and/or an above-par running game.  

 

To the bolded.  Nobody said his mistakes were totally because of injuries, but considering his drop-off from the previous season, one could easily justify that injuries had an overwhelming effect on his ability to continue to play at an elite level.  

 

Well, first I wouldn't say that Luck had been playing at an elite level prior to last year anyway.  He's a great young QB, definitely one of the best in the league, but I wouldn't him in the elite category.

 

Second, all you should really need to do is watch him play last year and watch some of the decisions he made to know that injury was only a small part of his overall poor play.  I think Pep was more to blame than injuries were.

 

Luck definitely has all the tools to be an elite QB, but I think too many people were too quick to lump him into that category and now, when he plays poorly, some have to come up with some excuse for him to explain it.  How about he's just not at that level yet, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.  He's still a young QB  and he's going to make mistakes and have bad games. 

 

[Gavin]

PFF has its flaws. They are however backed up by coaches and not based on fandom. The article has its flaws to

 

-Patrick Robinson legit starter? This opinion will change...He is a healthy Greg Toler

 

-Why is Wilson talking about Ryan Kelly as an upgrade when he has not taken a snap yet...Granted I think he will be if he stays healthy but he has to do it first

 

-PFF does not take into account a whole career when doing grades or get awe struck by a players last year whether it was bad or great and yes a player can have great year 1 year and a bad one the next(This includes star players). Luck had a bad year last year. Cole underperformed but he also played in around half the snaps...Also I'm really not sure what some expected of him because we were not getting Robert Mathis 2.0 when we brought him in. He didn't produce like he did in Philly but he didn't see nearly as many snaps either

 

 

[justdev7]

Tough to read into this things too much in the offseason.