Why not use SWOOPE as a 3rd or 4th wideout ala Jimmy Graham?

[jshipp23]

We have Doyle for blocking and receiving,  Swoop can't block, and we could draft George Kittle TE Iowa in the later rounds..He is said to be a great blocker and very athletic...This will be impossible for defenses to stop!

[csmopar]

[SteelCityColt]

Wasn't this kinda the plan with Fleener? With him and Allen we could run a lot of 2TE sets and do all sorts of funky fun things like putting them in motion and sending them out wide. 

 

Not a dig at the OP to be clear just a memory check that this was meant to be the philosophy under Pep? Force them into a Nickel package and then run it down their throats. 

 

 

[Coltsfan1953]

Didn't we use to run that a lot with Peyton and Dallas Clark? It seemed to work ok then.

[pgt_rob]

Yeah... It can definitely work and did work for us when we had Fleener. He was somewhat of a mismatch out there for us. We will see what happens this season though.

[buccolts]

24 minutes ago, SteelCityColt said:

Wasn't this kinda the plan with Fleener? With him and Allen we could run a lot of 2TE sets and do all sorts of funky fun things like putting them in motion and sending them out wide. 

 

Not a dig at the OP to be clear just a memory check that this was meant to be the philosophy under Pep? Force them into a Nickel package and then run it down their throats. 

 

 

 

You're correct, but since that didn't work, we're now talking 3 TE sets.

Can't miss.

[21isSuperman]

Swoope had almost no football experience prior to joining the Colts.  I imagine the plan is to use him as a large wide receiver (a la Dallas Clark or Jimmy Graham) to create mismatches, but he will need time to develop.  He showed some flashes last year, so I think things are starting to click for him.  For all we know, he's reached his peak.  We'll have to wait and see how he performs in OTAs, training camp, and the preseason.  But I do think what you said is/was the plan for him

[Detectacon]

 

1 hour ago, 21isSuperman said:

Swoope had almost no football experience prior to joining the Colts.  I imagine the plan is to use him as a large wide receiver (a la Dallas Clark or Jimmy Graham) to create mismatches, but he will need time to develop.  He showed some flashes last year, so I think things are starting to click for him.  For all we know, he's reached his peak.  We'll have to wait and see how he performs in OTAs, training camp, and the preseason.  But I do think what you said is/was the plan for him

I agree that is the plan and agree with Supe that he is still very green. He definitely does not command the onfield respect that Graham does though. 

[NorthernColt]

He was impressive last year. Can remember a few 20+ yard catch and runs. 

[will426]

His worst attribute is failure to go down correctly lol he was leaving linebackers 3-4 steps behind but once the safety came in to hit he'd give them the perfect shots at his knees..he got rocked down low a couple times but he got back up I just don't suggest he allows them to get easy hits like that one of them will cause an injury 

[lollygagger8]

I think this year he will be utilized even more than he was last year. 

[jskinnz]

4 hours ago, jshipp23 said:

We have Doyle for blocking and receiving,  Swoop can't block, and we could draft George Kittle TE Iowa in the later rounds..He is said to be a great blocker and very athletic...This will be impossible for defenses to stop!

 

I am pretty sure that is exactly what they are planning on doing.  

[AKB]

why was this moved? How is this not colts football?

[OffensivelyPC]

9 minutes ago, AustinnKaine said:

why was this moved? How is this not colts football?

Probably because whoever moved it doesn't know who Erik Swoope is.  I'll bet it was @Superman  He's usually talking nonsense on here...

[chad72]

A few things to consider:

 

1. With our OL, we can't go empty back field, have to keep in an RB, IMO. If we can go empty back field, we can spread out pass rushing LBs in coverage forcing them out of their comfort zone like the Patriots do vs Steelers and other teams with 4 or 5 wide using quick hitters from their QB. So, the most we can go is 4 wide with an RB and 3 WRs/1 TE (POSSE) with speed. That TE can be Doyle or Swoope. Typically, when you play ACE, 2 WRs/2 TEs, one of them ends up being inline. 

 

2. Next, our guys need to be able to quickly realize that even if it is a late blitz coming from the man that is guarding them, whether it is a quick in or out, give your QB a quick target without running into a crowd with good spatial awareness, even if it is just 4 or 5 yards gained. So, even if you split out both the 2 TEs playing inline in an ACE formation (not sure why we would do that), they need the ability to get open very quickly i.e. within 5 yards and turn because teams will test our OL. For that, either the players have to be extremely aware or the OC has to devise plays where the offensive player does not wait 4 seconds to make his break. 

 

So far, I have not seen such play calling or player awareness consistently with this offense under Chud. It could be that Chud is not confident that the players would execute it, so not sure. Till they practice that and call more of those with confidence in the OL, it will be a work in progress, IMO and not something we can instantly embrace as plays that will work. It is far from a well oiled machine we got used to during the Peyton era.

[BlueCollarColts]

That's probably the plan with Swoope. He showed some flashes of being a dangerous WR last season, so hopefully he builds on that. He'll probably get more snaps than last season with Allen being gone.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHniycFrImw

 

This video really shows the upside with Swoope. He's too big of a body to really cover effectively with a corner, but he's too quick for the vast majority of linebackers to cover him.

[Indeee]

Here's why this doesn't happen.....  Swoope is this Colts team version of Fletcher and he can only catch a corner route against the Pats only after he has suggested this to Luck after he failed to catch a previous ball thrown to him by Luck one play earlier

[shasta519]

How do we know that Swoope can't block? The man learned how to play football at the NFL level. And from where he started, his progress is nothing short of amazing. 

 

He certainly has the functional strength to be a good blocker, so it's likely a matter of technique. Last season, I noticed him make a few good blocks...so he can obviously do it. And considering that he was able to learn how run routes better than most college players, despite never playing, I am not going to assume he can't learn how to be a good blocker. 

 

Don't sleep on Swoope. He has huge upside and we saw glimpses of it last season. He clearly has the athleticism to run away from most LBs and Ss (watch him burn Nate Allen in the OAK game) and he is too big to be covered by CBs and Ss. As his route running continues to improve (it's already at a fairly decent level), he is going to be an even bigger mistmatch. And probably the most exciting part of all, as we saw last season, he can make big plays and get huge gains after the catch. If he stays healthy and gets Allen targets (as he should), he is going to break out in a big way...and will be more productive than Doyle.  

 

But I also think this TE class is too good to ignore...so I hope the Colts draft one. Kittle seems like a good project, but Hodges is the guy I want. Every one talks about Howard, Njoku and Engram...but Hodges is going to be a star in the NFL. 

[NewColtsFan]

7 hours ago, 21isSuperman said:

Swoope had almost no football experience prior to joining the Colts.  I imagine the plan is to use him as a large wide receiver (a la Dallas Clark or Jimmy Graham) to create mismatches, but he will need time to develop.  He showed some flashes last year, so I think things are starting to click for him.  For all we know, he's reached his peak.  We'll have to wait and see how he performs in OTAs, training camp, and the preseason.  But I do think what you said is/was the plan for him

 

 

Good post.      Very well said!

 

Appreciate you making such a good post.     Covers every base.   

 

Nicely done!    

[SaturdayAllDay]

43 minutes ago, shastamasta said:

How do we know that Swoope can't block? The man learned how to play football at the NFL level. And from where he started, his progress is nothing short of amazing. 

 

He certainly has the functional strength to be a good blocker, so it's likely a matter of technique. Last season, I noticed him make a few good blocks...so he can obviously do it. And considering that he was able to learn how run routes better than most college players, despite never playing, I am not going to assume he can't learn how to be a good blocker. 

 

Don't sleep on Swoope. He has huge upside and we saw glimpses of it last season. He clearly has the athleticism to run away from most LBs and Ss (watch him burn Nate Allen in the OAK game) and he is too big to be covered by CBs and Ss. As his route running continues to improve (it's already at a fairly decent level), he is going to be an even bigger mistmatch. And probably the most exciting part of all, as we saw last season, he can make big plays and get huge gains after the catch. If he stays healthy and gets Allen targets (as he should), he is going to break out in a big way...and will be more productive than Doyle.  

 

But I also think this TE class is too good to ignore...so I hope the Colts draft one. Kittle seems like a good project, but Hodges is the guy I want. Every one talks about Howard, Njoku and Engram...but Hodges is going to be a star in the NFL. 

The big issue with not learning how to block until the NFL is the lack of actual time to learn. With the current CBA there are almost no contact practices (14 per season) and we are seeing players blocking ability across the board dropping because of it. He is improving in all aspects of the game, but his blocking in the trenches will be the last thing to come together. Might as well play to his strengths for now. 

[Coltfreak]

Why on earth did this thread get moved to the Draft and FA forum???

[zibby43]

This topic should not be in this forum.

 

Too many topics are being moved to the this forum.  It's not easy being a moderator, and the mods here do a fantastic job, but this is getting a little out of hand now lol.

[That Guy]

I think the biggest threat Swoope posed last year was just being unknown and unexpected.  I don't see him as a bigger threat to defenses than Dorsett (with his speed) or Rogers (who seems reliable).

[throwing BBZ]

 Because he is a little stiff and lacks quickness.