Do the Colts have a solid return guy?

[Myles]

Are they going with Quan Bray?

Seems the Colts haven't really focused on the return guys too much for years. 

[Everyone]

     Quan is the best return prospect the Colts have had for quite a while. I think PFF rated him the 3rd best return man last season, if you care what they have to say anyway.

[UKColt13]

Quan Bray is the best return man we've had in a long time. I have no issues with him as our return man for the season.

 

Especially when I look back at the times we've had Cassius Vaughn, Deji Karim and Josh Cribbs (occasionally) catching punts and kickoffs.

[Everyone]

Pat likes him

 

[lollygagger8]

Quan Bray baby!

 

[CR91]

I haven't seen a returner like quan since Terrance wilkins

[TDewar1987]

Yeah I definitely approve Quan. He's much better than anything we've had in recent years. 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

Yeah I like Quan too.

[Valpo2004]

I'm certainly fine with Quan Bray as our return man.  He did a pretty good job last year.

[BCoop]

Quan's ability as a returner makes his lack of progress (so far) at receiver all the more frustrating. I don't know that this team has the depth to keep a return specialist on the roster for the whole season. I'm really hoping he can show something from the WR position in pre-season to justify his roster spot.

[Everyone]

3 minutes ago, BCoop said:

Quan's ability as a returner makes his lack of progress (so far) at receiver all the more frustrating. I don't know that this team has the depth to keep a return specialist on the roster for the whole season. I'm really hoping he can show something from the WR position in pre-season to justify his roster spot.

From what I've read, he's had a decent camp as a WR, not just a returner.

[cdgacoltsfan]

With the new rule, just take a knee 90% of the time and we will start drives at the 25 instead of inside the 10 like we did 50% of the time.

[NorthernColt]

6 minutes ago, cdgacoltsfan said:

With the new rule, just take a knee 90% of the time and we will start drives at the 25 instead of inside the 10 like we did 50% of the time.

True, but teams with a good punter won't kick it into the endzone forcing a return if teams don't have a good return man. 

[krunk]

33 minutes ago, cdgacoltsfan said:

With the new rule, just take a knee 90% of the time and we will start drives at the 25 instead of inside the 10 like we did 50% of the time.

Most teams are not going to want to concede an automatic start at the 25.  They will kick it short in an attempt to get a stop lesser than the 25.

[ReMeDy]

1 hour ago, krunk said:

Most teams are not going to want to concede an automatic start at the 25.  They will kick it short in an attempt to get a stop lesser than the 25.

 

Which raises a good point that perhaps what the NFL did was counter-productive to player safety. Now you'll see more punters kicking it high or pooch kicking it, and return men who will hesitate waving for the fair catch so their team doesn't start in bad field position. Thank god we don't have Josh Cribbs.

[krunk]

4 minutes ago, ReMeDy said:

 

Which raises a good point that perhaps what the NFL did was counter-productive to safety. Now you're going to have high pooch kicks and return men who will hesitate waving for the fair catch so their team doesn't start in bad field position. Thank god we don't have Josh Cribbs.

 

The whole thing is stupid to me.  I wish they would have left all of it alone. In a couple years no one will really be needed for special teams anymore because they will have removed the kickoff and punt return in total.  Guys won't even be able to compete for a roster spot in that area anymore because the punt and kickoff returns won't exist. I think they are getting too paranoid with the whole player safety issue.  Some change is good, but it's going a bit overboard.

[RockThatBlue]

Hit the Quan.

[RockThatBlue]

6 hours ago, UKColt13 said:

Quan Bray is the best return man we've had in a long time. I have no issues with him as our return man for the season.

 

Especially when I look back at the times we've had Cassius Vaughn, Deji Karim and Josh Cribbs (occasionally) catching punts and kickoffs.

I honestly thought Karim was gonna be good, even returned one for a TD if I remember right. 

[krunk]

Just now, RockThatBlue said:

I honestly thought Karim was gonna be good, even returned one for a TD if I remember right. 

I did too, but he couldn't make an impact anywhere else and you know we don't keep guys like that.  Got to be able to do more than special teams.  Quan still has some proving to do in that area as well.   I do like him though!

[RockThatBlue]

2 minutes ago, krunk said:

I did too, but he couldn't make an impact anywhere else and you know we don't keep guys like that.  Got to be able to do more than special teams.  Quan still has some proving to do in that area as well.   I do like him though!

I'm intrigued to see how Chud uses Bray. Maybe a Harvin type role? I bet Chud will use Bray in the screen game some, he could score some TDs like Todman did I bet. Or get long gains anyway.

[RockThatBlue]

With all the speed we will have on offense there will be no excuses for our screen game to be bad. It would be criminal to not run screens with TY Dorsett and Bray. And either Ferguson or Williams (assuming only one of the 2 makes the roster)

[GoColtsWin]

6 hours ago, CR91 said:

I haven't seen a returner like quan since Terrance wilkins

This^ Wilkins was crazy fast/shifty. An absolute blast to watch play. By his 2nd season I believe, Peyton was already doing the receiving "Route" tree with him.

 What ever happened to him? I know he was picked up after us. Good dude, great athlete. 

[Gavin]

I know Quans return yards per game average but I'd like to know the average starting field position on his kickoff returns. If you look at it objectively his Kickoff return yards last year are as much as Griff Whalens at 27.1. The difference is that Quan returned 12 more then Griff (21 to 9).

 

Punt Return wise he returned 21 to Griffs 9 and averaged 7.9 yards per return to Griffs 7.1. The question should be what is our average starting field position vs Whalens. No doubt has to be very similar. I don't think he is an upgrade given all the information we have available other than the fact that he has returned more kicks and takes more chances but that doesn't really make him an upgrade either. I'd be willing to bet neither one of them gave us average starting field position beyond the 20 yard line

[krunk]

19 minutes ago, RockThatBlue said:

With all the speed we will have on offense there will be no excuses for our screen game to be bad. It would be criminal to not run screens with TY Dorsett and Bray. And either Ferguson or Williams (assuming only one of the 2 makes the roster)

I keep getting this nagging feeling that we'll end up with Jordan Todman.  I'm hoping Ferguson balls out this game.  We are supposed to be making a concerted effort to run the football against the Ravens.  Judging from the point in which they played Williams against the Bills I don't think they have him slated as a priority.  I'm high on Williams, but just going off what I observed.

[krunk]

17 minutes ago, Gavin said:

I know Quans return yards per game average but I'd like to know the average starting field position on his kickoff returns. If you look at it objectively his Kickoff return yards last year are as much as Griff Whalens at 27.1. The difference is that Quan returned 12 more then Griff (21 to 9).

 

Punt Return wise he returned 21 to Griffs 9 and averaged 7.9 yards per return to Griffs 7.1. The question should be what is our average starting field position vs Whalens. No doubt has to be very similar. I don't think he is an upgrade given all the information we have available other than the fact that he has returned more kicks and takes more chances but that doesn't really make him an upgrade either. I'd be willing to bet neither one of them gave us average starting field position beyond the 20 yard line

The question to me (and I don't study numbers as much as you do) is would Griff Whalen have mainted the same average as Bray on 21 kickoff  and  punt returns?  I'm not sure that would have happened.   Who knows?

[Gavin]

11 minutes ago, krunk said:

The question to me (and I don't study numbers as much as you do) is would Griff Whalen have mainted the same average as Bray on 21 kickoff  and  punt returns?  I'm not sure that would have happened.   Who knows?

There really is no reason to believe he wouldn't. I think Bray takes more risks and with risk comes the possibility of reward such as a big return or TD and that's why the change was made. Personally I was just fine with Griff downing so many kicks as it guaranteed a free 20 yards but I think Quan is a bit faster.....like a step 2. Not significantly faster. He has more twitch though

[BrentMc11]

I like Quan Bray a lot.  I bet we see Chester Rogers get a couple of returns in this week.  He has been one of the most impressive receivers through camp and preseason.

 

Quan will make the team regardless due to fantastic play on special teams.  

[LJpalmbeacher2]

I don't really care about the numbers as much to passing the eye test. Quan Bray passes, Griff Whalen didn't.

Besides, similar avg or not, Bray has a lot Better chance of breaking one and giving us good/great field position or even 6points than Griff did.

[coltsfeva]

2 hours ago, GoColtsWin said:

This^ Wilkins was crazy fast/shifty. An absolute blast to watch play. By his 2nd season I believe, Peyton was already doing the receiving "Route" tree with him.

 What ever happened to him? I know he was picked up after us. Good dude, great athlete. 

I remember him stepping out-of-bounds in the Tenn. playoff game....man was that close!

 

As far as Bray...I like his ability to hold onto the ball, which will become more critical with the new rules. Would like to see him emerge as the 4th or 5th WR. 

[krunk]

34 minutes ago, LJpalmbeacher said:

I don't really care about the numbers as much to passing the eye test. Quan Bray passes, Griff Whalen didn't.

Besides, similar avg or not, Bray has a lot Better chance of breaking one and giving us good/great field position or even 6points than Griff did.

Nobody was afraid of Griff Whalen.  And you are right, there was zero chance of him taking one to the house. Quan Bray is an upgrade to me in both areas.

[TheRustonRifle#7]

Quan has shown he is capable of handling the duties but I also believe Ferguson and Todman will get some run there this pre-season....may the best man(men) win,

[ÅÐØNϧ 1]

12 hours ago, CR91 said:

I haven't seen a returner like quan since Terrance wilkins

 

Terrance Wilkins was flat out great for the Colts . Bray has done okay better than most in recent memory but i need to see more was just reading this .

 

Quote

Bray: Came in midseason last year and simply stole the show as a kick and punt returner.

He had 21 kickoff returns for 570 yards (an average of 27.1 yards per return, which led the AFC); he also had 21 punt returns for 166 yards (an average of 7.9 yards per return). 

As a punt returner, Bray had returns that included 11, 15, 16, 17, 19 (twice), 20 and 33 yards, respectively.

He was recognized this offseason by Pro Football Focus as the third-best return man of 2015, only trailing the electric Jarvis Landry (Miami Dolphins) and Tyler Lockett (Seattle Seahawks).

 

 

I hope he is the answer . 

[crazycolt1]

3 hours ago, ÅÐØNϧ 1 said:

 

Terrance Wilkins was flat out great for the Colts . Bray has done okay better than most in recent memory but i need to see more was just reading this .

 

 

I hope he is the answer . 

You guys forgetting about Brad Pyatt??  He had his career cut short because of injury but he was pretty good.

[Jules]

Special teams are the least of our worries lol. It's amazing since if you asked me in 2006 it was a top worry.

[RockThatBlue]

7 hours ago, krunk said:

Nobody was afraid of Griff Whalen.  And you are right, there was zero chance of him taking one to the house. Quan Bray is an upgrade to me in both areas.

Yup. I bet Bray gets at least 1 return TD this year. Maybe more. Has great vision and pretty good quickness. Even last week when he bobbled the kickoff return he still somehow made it out past the 20 yard line. Hes impressive.

[SteelCityColt]

12 hours ago, RockThatBlue said:

With all the speed we will have on offense there will be no excuses for our screen game to be bad. It would be criminal to not run screens with TY Dorsett and Bray. And either Ferguson or Williams (assuming only one of the 2 makes the roster)

 

 

Wait..... We have a screen game??!

[Dark Superman]

Quan Bray is our return guy and he had one heck of a season last year. I'm excited to see him as our returner this season!

[TheRustonRifle#7]

The funny thing is that every time I read or hear Quan's name I think about this guy buying the tape "Daquan's dance moves"...so smoove...

 

[Myles]

18 hours ago, GoColtsWin said:

This^ Wilkins was crazy fast/shifty. An absolute blast to watch play. By his 2nd season I believe, Peyton was already doing the receiving "Route" tree with him.

 What ever happened to him? I know he was picked up after us. Good dude, great athlete. 

I had forgotten that he came back and returned for the Colts in 2003 and 2006.

Quite a short career.

 

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WilkTe00.htm

[Jay Kirk]

On ‎8‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 5:18 PM, BrentMc11 said:

I like Quan Bray a lot.  I bet we see Chester Rogers get a couple of returns in this week.  He has been one of the most impressive receivers through camp and preseason.

 

Quan will make the team regardless due to fantastic play on special teams.  

From what I see Chester makes the team , a very capable slot with speed on outside . Return skills there as well.