Thoughts After Ravens-Colts Preseason Game 2

[JPFolks]

I guess since there isn't a general assessment post yet, I will go for a second week.  

 

I had to work while watching, so I could watch as closely to this game.  I will try to rewatch it to get into nitty gritty stuff. 

 

In general, I noticed the following: 

 

Our Defense has a surprisingly deep line.  (DE/NT) and they looked really good as a unit putting the only consistent pressure from our D as far as I saw.  But they got great push in general and made some excellent plays.  I didn't see a lot of pressures from our LB's however (not saying there was none, but I didn't feel they held their own compared to the inside guys).  There were a few good plays from our inside linebackers early.   Our secondary, minus Davis is a big concern.  The rookie safety was holding his own, but our back up corners were not up to the task.  We just don't have the depth I think we need and we'll be an injury away back there to real serious trouble.  (If someone saw something more than I saw, I welcome some positives beyond Green from depth.   Sure, we had an interception on a good play by Guy, but do we really want a solid special teams guy as our go to back up Safety in case of injury? I don't).  The Corners however are my biggest concern after outside pass rush.  Let's hope game 3 sees someone on the outside really heat up.  

 

Our O-Line was night and day better than last week across most players.  I only saw struggles from the starters on a few missed assignments, but they covered for each other much better it seemed to me than last week.  I think C, LG and LT played about as well as we need.  We still saw mistakes on the right side, but it was much improved.  Kelly has really been solid and Mewhort looked like his old self.  Castonzo also looked much more in control of his position.  Just as Haeg was settling in he got hurt, let's hope it's not serious (I haven't heard anything, perhaps someone else has?).  Blythe had the toughest game of anyone and Clark gave up a second sack.  Blythe especially disappointed me at Center where I hoped he would flash at his natural position but he seemed to struggle there too.  I still hope he's able to rise above Harrison as our back-up Center, but he may just be a PS level player as he's looked so far.  I know we played additional UDFA's (including the kid from USC who also got hurt and sadly had to be carted off), but it is hard to get a lot out of late game play due to the lack of competition on both sides compared to opening day rosters.  

 

Luck I thought looked really good on all levels for his first live action in 10 months.  I think we're going to really see him thrive next week hopefully with all (or at least MORE) of his weapons together on the field. Perhaps others have complaints, I have none.  Our back up QB's looked good, Tolzien was much more locked in and the kid from Miami only has to live down throwing the first ever interception on an extra point that was the game winning score, other than that he's still impressing.  He's not been Dak Prescott, but I hope we find a way to hang on to him.  I thought the top receivers looked good in limited action.  It seems clear (to me at least) that Chester is making the team and should which would make 4 with Hilton, Dorsett and Moncrief.  I haven't seen anyone else really shine enough to overtake Bray, though it seemed like a lot of people were taking turns returning kicks.  Bray had a nice catch but will he really get enough action to make the team as #5?  I don't know who else would take his spot at this time.  Perhaps others have a better handle on the deepers WR's.  I saw a couple bad plays from our starting TE.  Let's hope it means nothing.  I have been pleasantly surprised by Swoope.. he was a complete mystery to me prior to Pre Season.  I haven't really seen much action from Doyle, hopefully he's getting catches I have just missed.  

 

Vinny is Vinny...  was surprised he missed a kick, but he was off early last year so hopefully he's getting it out of his system.  And our Punting God nearly hit a 65 yarder... missed it a tiny bit on distance... if it was 55 he's there.  If Vinny goes down, I won't panic as much.  

 

How do you summarize it?   

[SP_21]

I think Luck played well but he's still holding onto the ball FOREVER. Obviously it's his first game in a while but I find it concerning. 

 

On on a positive note, I love seeing all the dump offs and screens. Giving Luck a safe check down so he doesn't have to force anything is a major improvement. 

 

The defense played well for the most part aside from that one CB. When everyone gets healthy I think our D-line could be dominant. 

[csmopar]

Dwyane Allen is a concern. Again. I still don't get why people liked him over fleener

[BOTT]

16 minutes ago, SP_21 said:

I think Luck played well but he's still holding onto the ball FOREVER. Obviously it's his first game in a while but I find it concerning. 

 

On on a positive note, I love seeing all the dump offs and screens. Giving Luck a safe check down so he doesn't have to force anything is a major improvement. 

 

The defense played well for the most part aside from that one CB. When everyone gets healthy I think our D-line could be dominant. 

What?  He didn't hold onto it forever.  And you can hold onto it forever if you have the time and don't take a hit.

[JPFolks]

49 minutes ago, csmopar said:

Dwyane Allen is a concern. Again. I still don't get why people liked him over fleener

Well, I am an Allen supporter, but he needs to live up to it that's for sure.  I wonder if it was more about the way they played or simply who they liked better?  It wasn't hard to make opposing arguments for both, it could also simply be his versatility when they plan to use fewer 2 TE's sets and they think he blocks better and can still be a great red zone threat and has enough receiving skills to meet their needs.  Fleener got better at blocking, but I don't think he caught up to Allen.  But Allen was hurt more so they took a risk for sure.  

[Jdubu]

Quite honestly, after the disappointment and expectations not met from Fleener and the constant injuries from Allen, I would not have signed either of the 2 to big contracts. I think we could have signed someone else to use as the occasional TE for passing and blocking at a rate much less than Allens contract. I think this team once again overpaid for a product that we may never see for a full season of play over this contract as opposed to just cutting bait and looking for different options in the UDFA of FA route. I won't lose any sleep over this contract and I hope that Allen lives up to the contract and has a nice career here because he certainly has the ability, then again, so did Bob Sanders and he had maybe 2 full seasons in INdy and one really nice season that propelled him into that huge contract but it got us a SB ring ")

[JPFolks]

3 minutes ago, Jdubu said:

Quite honestly, after the disappointment and expectations not met from Fleener and the constant injuries from Allen, I would not have signed either of the 2 to big contracts. I think we could have signed someone else to use as the occasional TE for passing and blocking at a rate much less than Allens contract. I think this team once again overpaid for a product that we may never see for a full season of play over this contract as opposed to just cutting bait and looking for different options in the UDFA of FA route. I won't lose any sleep over this contract and I hope that Allen lives up to the contract and has a nice career here because he certainly has the ability, then again, so did Bob Sanders and he had maybe 2 full seasons in INdy and one really nice season that propelled him into that huge contract but it got us a SB ring ")

It's a valid concern, but would you feel the same if he say didn't miss more than a game a year during the contract? Just curious.  I felt they needed to use the TE's more and better, but they never seemed to have them both ready to go at the same time and Allen spent more time blocking than I wish he had to have due to the porous line play at times. 

[southwest1]

2 hours ago, csmopar said:

Dwyane Allen is a concern. Again. I still don't get why people liked him over fleener

I will confess that I just voiced my frustration over Allen fumbling the ball in another thread csmopar. However, Dwayne will be fine & I like guys who get mad over ball security blunders that kill promising drives. I wanna see that turnovers bother him. A great sign. 

 

I've said this before & I'll say it again: Allen creates better separation with his body on contested catches with tight CB coverage then Fleener ever did. Fleener was faster on his feet maybe, but I liked Allen's body control as a buffer to create better separation & 1st downs than Coby often failed to display consistently to me. 

 

Dwayne just needs to stay healthy for like 20 weeks & we'll be a okay. Plus, Fleener just like Jimmy Graham wasn't known for his willingness to block well on running plays to me. I didn't say Coby never blocked, but I always felt like his heart wasn't always into it that's all. 

[SilentHill]

2 hours ago, csmopar said:

Dwyane Allen is a concern. Again. I still don't get why people liked him over fleener

 

Fleener was a concern as well. It's not like we let an elite TE go for chump change, they are comparable in my book, with Allen edging out Fleener with better blocking abilities.

[southwest1]

2 hours ago, JPFolks said:

He's not been Dak Prescott, but I hope we find a way to hang on to him.

Yeah, Scott Tolzien played a solid game & you're right we need to keep him as our backup. 

 

It just bothers me when I see too many early throws from him that are too high resulting in incomplete passes. Part of it is due to the fact that he went to UW-Madison & usually if our school drafts anybody it's usually RBs like Ron Dayne or Melvin Gordon that play poorly at the next level to be kind & I want a QB from my school to look decent or dare I say competent from jump street. Yes, he did settle down eventually with good spin on the ball, but for a guy udrafted in 2011 with an elite QB like Rogers to silently observe, high throws should be rare on starting drives by now in my estimation.

[IndyD4U]

2 hours ago, SP_21 said:

I think Luck played well but he's still holding onto the ball FOREVER. Obviously it's his first game in a while but I find it concerning. 

 

On on a positive note, I love seeing all the dump offs and screens. Giving Luck a safe check down so he doesn't have to force anything is a major improvement. 

 

The defense played well for the most part aside from that one CB. When everyone gets healthy I think our D-line could be dominant. 

Here's what I don't understand about everyone say Luck hangs onto the ball to long. He has to hold it until the receivers get to their break/wherever in their route. It's not like the receivers have ran their routes and are scrambling to get open because Luck holds the ball. Maybe it's my Homer eyes, but I don't see it. 

[southwest1]

2 hours ago, SP_21 said:

On on a positive note, I love seeing all the dump offs and screens. Giving Luck a safe check down so he doesn't have to force anything is a major improvement. 

Good point SP21. Maybe Chud made Luck realize that check downs creates a rhythm & that rhythm builds up Luck's confidence early in games that leads to methodical drives downfield. I wanna see if Chud still preaches this approach when Hilton plays next week too since TY is his go to security blanket normally.

 

I wanna see if Dorsett, Bray, & Allen can also become clutch go to guys as well in 3rd down situations so DCs just can't double team TY all the time & think that's where Chewbacca is always looking at for a jailbreak play. 

 

 

[Jdubu]

1 hour ago, JPFolks said:

It's a valid concern, but would you feel the same if he say didn't miss more than a game a year during the contract? Just curious.  I felt they needed to use the TE's more and better, but they never seemed to have them both ready to go at the same time and Allen spent more time blocking than I wish he had to have due to the porous line play at times. 

I believe if he misses a game a season, it would be fine. He is a talent but what I hoped to make a point in, was all the talent in the world is no good on the bench hurt. 

[southwest1]

17 minutes ago, Jdubu said:

I believe if he misses a game a season, it would be fine. He is a talent but what I hoped to make a point in, was all the talent in the world is no good on the bench hurt. 

So, to quote NFL analyst Solomon Wilcots "you can't make the club in the tub" or rather you can't win any bling always on the ding [IR list.]

 

Let's let this season play out before we panic over our starting TE situation shall we. 

[throwing BBZ]

30 minutes ago, IndyD4U said:

Here's what I don't understand about everyone say Luck hangs onto the ball to long. He has to hold it until the receivers get to their break/wherever in their route. It's not like the receivers have ran their routes and are scrambling to get open because Luck holds the ball. Maybe it's my Homer eyes, but I don't see it. 

 

 Have to wonder your age, how much football you have watched?
 Andrew got it out ok last night, but historically he has been Very late with his throws.
  This data is kept and he compares poorly in this regard to his peers.

[21isSuperman]

3 hours ago, csmopar said:

Dwyane Allen is a concern. Again. I still don't get why people liked him over fleener

He's a far more complete TE than Fleener.  With Fleener, you essentially have a very large WR, but Allen can also block and even play FB if needed.  Allen's only concern is health, not talent or ability

[IndyD4U]

22 minutes ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

 Have to wonder your age, how much football you have watched?
 Andrew got it out ok last night, but historically he has been Very late with his throws.
  This data is kept and he compares poorly in this regard to his peers.

Ah, yet another offensive post from you. You're a peach @throwing BBZ. For the record, I'm 36 

 

Player, coach, and forum member for the past 12 years too

[Jdubu]

43 minutes ago, southwest1 said:

So, to quote NFL analyst Solomon Wilcots "you can't make the club in the tub" or rather you can't win any bling always on the ding [IR list.]

 

Let's let this season play out before we panic over our starting TE situation shall we. 

I am not panicking, I just think we could have put the assets into another position like lb'er and not so much into a very solid offensive guy who is broken too often. Again, I'm not stressing over the deal and I'm not upset over it either. Just my opinion of it. 

[southwest1]

30 minutes ago, Jdubu said:

I am not panicking, I just think we could have put the assets into another position like lb'er and not so much into a very solid offensive guy who is broken too often. Again, I'm not stressing over the deal and I'm not upset over it either. Just my opinion of it. 

I get what you're saying about strengthening our defense Jdubu, but to state that you're "not so much into a very solid offensive guy who is broken too often" creates the impression that some Fleener fans wish Allen was in New Orleans right now instead of Coby. I think we traded the right TE & perhaps you do not. Sorry, but what's done is done. 

 

Yes, you are certainly entitled to your opinion & I respectfully disagree. Both #83 & our strength & conditioning coach Darrien Krien should be able to build up his stamina, flexibility, & endurance in my estimation.

 

 

[NewColtsFan]

1 hour ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

 Have to wonder your age, how much football you have watched?
 Andrew got it out ok last night, but historically he has been Very late with his throws.
  This data is kept and he compares poorly in this regard to his peers.

 

I'm going to turn this around on you....

 

I have to wonder how much football YOU have watched?

 

Of course Luck has been late with his throws.     He's been bravely hanging in their and willing to take hits so his receivers could hopefully come open and he'd try to connect with them.       Most in the NFL community see it as far more of a plus than a minus.

 

But not you.

 

The data that is kept is not a zero sum game.    It's not whoever gets rid of the ball faster is best.    There is more to this than a bottom line number. 

 

For the record,  I don't have a problem with you or anyone else criticizing Luck for holding on to the ball too long, I agree.       But the flip-side is that you've got to praise him when holding on to the ball a long time leads to something good.

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

I thought Andrew looked Great, 8-8 for 71 Yards is solid. Dorsett looks healthy as well. I didn't like the penalties as they hurt us early. We could've been up 14-0, 10-0 at worse when Andrew was in. We need to cut out the penalties. Penalties killed a lot of our drives last season too. This is a huge concern.

[SP_21]

4 hours ago, BOTT said:

What?  He didn't hold onto it forever.  And you can hold onto it forever if you have the time and don't take a hit.

He only played what 2 series? In those two I saw him hold it too long on multiple occasions. 

 

Ive never been one of the "Luck holds the ball too long" crowd. But since he and the coaching staff have put an emphasis on it, he should be vastly improved. 

 

This problem will be exasperated in the regular season when Luck has to make a critical throw on 3rd down or when the check down/easy throws aren't there. 

 

Again, I think he played well but he's definitely got room for improvement. 

[COLTS449]

Andrew and Dorsett both looked really good. I'm expecting big things from both. I'm not worried about the Corners. Vontae will bounce back from a subpar season last year, and having Robinson out there opposite of him instead of Toler is going to be a thing of beauty. The only concern I have with the CB's is who'll step up as the nickel. Can Butler get back to the way he played a couple years ago? Will D'Joun Smith step up and be what we expected when we drafted him?  My main concern on defense is what it's been for a while now. The freaking pass rush. I about half way expect Mathis to come out and dominate, but that's far from a guarantee. I really wish we had a young game wrecker at OLB. Or I wish we had at least signed a guy like Irvin. But maybe we'll get a nice surprise from one of Maggitt, Thompson, Bates, or Okine. Or maybe Trent Cole will look like Trent Cole from 4-5 years ago??? Doubtful. He should have been cut, but hey maybe he'll surprise us. If Mathis is the Mathis from a couple years ago and gives us double digit sacks then our front 7 can actually be pretty good. I love our D-Line. Anderson will be back and he'll be a force along with Langford. I'm excited about McGill, Kerr, and Ridgeway too. On the other side of the ball our offensive line should be much, much better this year with Kelly at Center, and between Thornton, Good, Reitz, Haeg, Clark, and Blythe the right side should work its way out. So I'm not too concerned with that. I look for Andrew to truly break out and become known as a legit, top 5 QB, and he has 3 nice weapons at WR. I am a little concerned with Dwayne Allen. Can he stay healthy, and can he produce. He needs to have a big year and give us at least 500 yards, and 5 TD's. Hopefully more.

[NewColtsFan]

 

I wouldn't get worked up about the contract we gave Allen.      As with most Grigson 4-year contracts,  we can get out of it with minimal damage after just two years if we want.

 

Fleecer got a 5-year deal with more upfront money and more guaranteed money.

 

Allen took a much more team friendly deal.     The deal is fine, but don't take my word for it.

 

Here's Allen's deal from Spotrac.      Just click and read....

 

 

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/indianapolis-colts/dwayne-allen/

[DougDew]

25 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

I wouldn't get worked up about the contract we gave Allen.      As with most Grigson 4-year contracts,  we can get out of it with minimal damage after just two years if we want.

 

Fleecer got a 5-year deal with more upfront money and more guaranteed money.

 

Allen took a much more team friendly deal.     The deal is fine, but don't take my word for it.

 

Here's Allen's deal from Spotrac.      Just click and read....

 

 

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/indianapolis-colts/dwayne-allen/

I took heat last spring for criticizing Allens' contract, saying he wasn't that much better than Doyle to receive that much more money than Doyle.  I don't want to rehash that topic, but, part of my opinion was that DA had fumbled more often in the past than what I thought a TE should (IMO, a TE should not be necessarily trying to make break away TDs and exposing the ball like a RB or WR might, so they should have fewer fumbles per touch).  I was confronted with comments saying that I didn't know what I was talking about, that DA did not have ball security issues.

 

Here it is in his first real game action and had a bad fumble.  One quarter of play, one fumble. One game doesn't mean anything, but is something to watch for during the season, IMO.

[zibby43]

4 hours ago, Jdubu said:

Quite honestly, after the disappointment and expectations not met from Fleener and the constant injuries from Allen, I would not have signed either of the 2 to big contracts. I think we could have signed someone else to use as the occasional TE for passing and blocking at a rate much less than Allens contract. I think this team once again overpaid for a product that we may never see for a full season of play over this contract as opposed to just cutting bait and looking for different options in the UDFA of FA route. I won't lose any sleep over this contract and I hope that Allen lives up to the contract and has a nice career here because he certainly has the ability, then again, so did Bob Sanders and he had maybe 2 full seasons in INdy and one really nice season that propelled him into that huge contract but it got us a SB ring ")

 

TEs like Allen that can catch the ball and block at a high level are prized commodities in the NFL.  Furthermore, the TE is a very important (dare I say indispensable) weapon for the offense.  Against the Ravens this past Sunday, Allen played a huge role in allowing the Colts' WRs to get open in the quick passing game with his route running.  He was making an impact on the game even when he wasn't being targeted.

 

The Colts' offense would suffer tremendously without a highly capable TE involved, which is why either Allen or Fleener was going to get paid this past off-season.  I pray that both Allen and Doyle stay healthy this season or all of us will quickly see how much an NFL offense can struggle without a TE creating matchup nightmares for the D, helping our tackles block/protect, and running clear-out routes underneath to help our WRs get open quickly for Luck.

 

I think the Colts made the right decision in taking the more versatile TE, as Fleener had trouble breaking tackles and continued to struggle in blocking stronger/more athletic defenders.  Fleener will be a perfect fit for the NO offense; he'll consistently play in space there.

 

In sum, yeah, Allen had a fumble on Sunday, and he absolutely has to clean that up.  But this was a guy that caught 8 TD passes in 2014 and is still only 26 years old.

[BOTT]

53 minutes ago, SP_21 said:

He only played what 2 series? In those two I saw him hold it too long on multiple occasions. 

 

Ive never been one of the "Luck holds the ball too long" crowd. But since he and the coaching staff have put an emphasis on it, he should be vastly improved. 

 

This problem will be exasperated in the regular season when Luck has to make a critical throw on 3rd down or when the check down/easy throws aren't there. 

 

Again, I think he played well but he's definitely got room for improvement. 

I guess we will agree to disagree

[Coltfreak]

Luck is holding the ball a lot due to long passes that take time to develop. Chud is a deep ball guy. Like Arians   Not sure why people don't know this 

[SP_21]

3 minutes ago, Coltfreak said:

Luck is holding the ball a lot due to long passes that take time to develop. Chud is a deep ball guy. Like Arians   Not sure why people don't know this 

I understand that but it's certainly not the whole story. 

[Coltfreak]

7 minutes ago, SP_21 said:

I understand that but it's certainly not the whole story. 

Agree.  Wasn't calling you out   Just saying. Everyone that hated Bruce and thinks Chud is going to be the savior is in for a shock 

[SP_21]

18 minutes ago, Coltfreak said:

Agree.  Wasn't calling you out   Just saying. Everyone that hated Bruce and thinks Chud is going to be the savior is in for a shock 

Idk know much about Chud but BA nearly killed Big Ben. I guess he's changed his style since then. 

 

Hopefully we don't have those issues with Chud. 

[BOTT]

38 minutes ago, Coltfreak said:

Luck is holding the ball a lot due to long passes that take time to develop. Chud is a deep ball guy. Like Arians   Not sure why people don't know this 

Nobody likes the deep ball like Arians.

[krunk]

1 hour ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

I wouldn't get worked up about the contract we gave Allen.      As with most Grigson 4-year contracts,  we can get out of it with minimal damage after just two years if we want.

 

Fleecer got a 5-year deal with more upfront money and more guaranteed money.

 

Allen took a much more team friendly deal.     The deal is fine, but don't take my word for it.

 

Here's Allen's deal from Spotrac.      Just click and read....

 

 

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/indianapolis-colts/dwayne-allen/

Who is Fleecer? Lol. Just messing with ya buddy.

[krunk]

It's a Deep Passing Offense for crying out loud. Why do you expect the ball to come out quickly like this is the West Coast Offense? The reads are high to low so yes you have to wait on your deep routes to develop a little bit. If you don't have your deep option open then you hit your checkdown. Good news is Chud gives Luck some easy check down options in this offense to keep him from getting blasted. I'm more concerned about him consistently taking those check downs and switching off to the easy screen plays against the blitz and some of these pressures than I have concern for him getting rid of the ball fast. And I Totally Love that Chud makes great use of his running backs in the passing game. That helps a lot against pressure. Too much hype around him getting rid of the ball fast.

[csmopar]

39 minutes ago, SP_21 said:

Idk know much about Chud but BA nearly killed Big Ben. I guess he's changed his style since then. 

 

Hopefully we don't have those issues with Chud. 

My understanding is that Chud favored a medium to long range game with lots of TE involvement.  Guess we shall see. 

[NewColtsFan]

1 hour ago, DougDew said:

I took heat last spring for criticizing Allens' contract, saying he wasn't that much better than Doyle to receive that much more money than Doyle.  I don't want to rehash that topic, but, part of my opinion was that DA had fumbled more often in the past than what I thought a TE should (IMO, a TE should not be necessarily trying to make break away TDs and exposing the ball like a RB or WR might, so they should have fewer fumbles per touch).  I was confronted with comments saying that I didn't know what I was talking about, that DA did not have ball security issues.

 

Here it is in his first real game action and had a bad fumble.  One quarter of play, one fumble. One game doesn't mean anything, but is something to watch for during the season, IMO.

 

Doug.....

 

For whatever it's worth.....   here's Allen's Bio page....

 

http://www.colts.com/team/roster/Dwayne-Allen/bd05c477-c980-41d7-9017-1e8a815ded17

 

He's played 4 years,  though we can discount one because he only played one game in 2013.    So, let's call it 3 years of actual playing.

 

In that time Dwayne Allen has two fumbles.    and the Colts recovered both.      Just food for thought.....

[NewColtsFan]

20 minutes ago, krunk said:

Who is Fleecer? Lol. Just messing with ya buddy.

 

Yikes.....      Darn autocorrect!       I'll have to make that change right now!

 

[DougDew]

9 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Doug.....

 

For whatever it's worth.....   here's Allen's Bio page....

 

http://www.colts.com/team/roster/Dwayne-Allen/bd05c477-c980-41d7-9017-1e8a815ded17

 

He's played 4 years,  though we can discount one because he only played one game in 2013.    So, let's call it 3 years of actual playing.

 

In that time Dwayne Allen has two fumbles.    and the Colts recovered both.      Just food for thought.....

Well, apparently the stats say I'm mistaken.

[Douzer]

TE: On Dwayne Allen... His blocking was terrible Saturday. He looked like he was mailing it in. After multiple cruddy, half hearted attempts to make any block anywhere he fumbled. He will not like the a** chewing he's got coming. Doyle is the most reliable, every down TE in my eyes. Swope has the body to be good, but his blocking is pathetic and he gets punished after the catch. He looks unprepared for how brutal the TE position is. Coffman is doing OK.

 

WR: Dorsett gets separation against 1's, 2's and will be a weapon. Moncrief is a stud. TY is the man. Rogers has raw skill, but plays frantic and has poor field awareness. He's the same on ST's. Smith is making a good case for himself.

 

RB: Gore, Turbin, Todman & Williams is where the production is coming from.

**Love the diversity in formation and play calling from the OC.

 

D-Line: McGill upped his game, he's become a force.  Lumpkin and Bailey have distinguished themselves very well with their minutes. All three of those guys are creating havoc and hauling butt sideline to sideline.

 

LB: Morrison won me over big time. His play at LB'er is impressive. He's just as impressive on ST's. Also, Ed Jackson is very, very likable. Maggit is a steal with big upside, Love him. I also like the Okine move, he can do some damage once he gets the position down. Next, I'm very impressed with Cole. He disappointed me last year, but looks totally different this year. Bigger, stronger, faster, hungrier. He now looks like the guy we hoped we were getting. Bates on the other hand, can't get around a block, or off of one so far.

 

S: Green is much better than advertised. He played very well for a rook again. Winston Guy is becoming a solid player and Southward is noticeable.

 

CB: Hard to say, but I soured on Tay Glover-Wright (#39), he didn't cover well, didn't tackle well and at 180# you'd think some speed would flash, but didn't see that either. I was 50/50 on Darius White (#37), I liked some things a about him. Also liked the little bit I saw of Frankie Williams (#46)

 

Tip of my hat to Jeremy Vujnovich OT. I didn't isolate him but he caught my eye handling the LT position nicely late in the game.

 

[aaron11]

7 hours ago, Jdubu said:

Quite honestly, after the disappointment and expectations not met from Fleener and the constant injuries from Allen, I would not have signed either of the 2 to big contracts.

i wouldnt have either.  a lot of people gave fleener a bunch of crap for dropped passes(maybe deserved) but allen's drop rate was actually higher

 

allen has had like 2 good, but not great years and two years full of injuries and play that was just average