Offensive Line

[a06cc]

1 hour ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Well I have always stated the PFF offensive grades are crap.  And AC is not only a good LT but a very good LT.  I won't rehash everything I've said on this forum regarding the line but there are some falsehoods

 

1.  The high number of sacks is because so many patterns are to go deep and Brisett holds the ball too long.  So much so he is 4th highest in the league with time to throw.

2.  The Colts run a lot of 5 steps drops out of the shotgun.  That gives the advantage to the D.

3.  AC had to shorten his kick slide a bit to help with Vuj who lacked the agility to fully cover his area.

4.  I am a firm believer that Philbin's blocking scheme was not very good.

I’m not the only one dissecting his play. Their are a handful of plays like this. Left alone one on one is something he can’t handle. This play he didn’t give up a sack. People can knock on JB, but if he didn’t step up into the pocket. We all know what could’ve happened. He gets beat by speed, inside and outside moves. Robert Quinn had the guys number in college and now in the pros. Rewatch this years Rams game. He dominated him. 

[CopenhagenColt]

Just throw whatever amount at Norwell that it would take to land him. Make him the best paid lineman in the league if that's what it takes. Then trade down in the draft with Jets and scoop up Nelson and we'll be good at guard for years to come.

[NewColtsFan]

On 1/7/2018 at 3:13 PM, Blueblazes said:

Seriously, this is not an offensive line to build on. Honestly, it's 8th from the bottom in yards per carry in rushing and the league's laughing stock at keeping the qb upright. Sure, some passes have been designed to go deep but no more than most other teams. We have to face it, that we have 2 decent O linemen, one marginal and 2 not good at all. Keep AC, but he's not good at LT, maybe RT, keep Kelly of course, Mewhort is solid. But we need at least 2 more O linemen and a real LT. A real LT.

Anthony Castanzo is not a weak spot.    That's not me saying that.   That's Chris Ballard saying that in an interview on this website 

 

Ballard says AC is playing the best ball of his career.    And that is supported by PFF which graded AC as the 13th best tackle in the NFL and the 17th best lineman overall.

 

We are not upgrading from AC for a number of years.   We are still trying to fix the other needed spots on the line.

 

We have a left tackle.   A real left tackle.

 

[a06cc]

1 hour ago, NewColtsFan said:

Anthony Castanzo is not a weak spot.    That's not me saying that.   That's Chris Ballard saying that in an interview on this website 

 

Ballard says AC is playing the best ball of his career.    And that is supported by PFF which graded AC as the 13th best tackle in the NFL and the 17th best lineman overall.

 

We are not upgrading from AC for a number of years.   We are still trying to fix the other needed spots on the line.

 

We have a left tackle.   A real left tackle.

 

I posted a video of a guy who agree with me about how bad AC is. I’m not going off of PFF. I can find weeks where they also have him graded badly. Film however doesn’t lie. Put on the Rams game. 

[a06cc]

This guy is going through season film on AC. 

[crazycolt1]

1 minute ago, a06cc said:

This guy is going through season film on AC. 

Sorry, you are in a very small minority.  You hand pick one play while completely overlooking what everyone else sees including the experts.  Regardless of what you say AC is solid.

[a06cc]

15 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

Sorry, you are in a very small minority.  You hand pick one play while completely overlooking what everyone else sees including the experts.  Regardless of what you say AC is solid.

The guy has a few plays where he actually has good blocks. However overall he has poor technique with his feet and engaging with his arms. 

[crazycolt1]

7 minutes ago, a06cc said:

The guy has a few plays where he actually has good blocks. However overall he has poor technique with his feet and engaging with his arms. 

Funny you are the only one seeing that. Every line man gets beat once in a while but AC less than most.

I can only hope we get a couple of more linemen as good as him.

[NewColtsFan]

42 minutes ago, a06cc said:

I posted a video of a guy who agree with me about how bad AC is. I’m not going off of PFF. I can find weeks where they also have him graded badly. Film however doesn’t lie. Put on the Rams game. 

 

The PFF grades that I've noted in a number of posts are SEASON LONG grades.   I'm not talking about a grade for any given week, which might be up or down.

 

Season long, AC graded out as the 12th best tackle and the 17th best lineman.   And Ballard himself said here on this site that AC is playing the best ball of his career.

 

This notion that AC isn't good is old and outdated.   People didn't notice because it got lost in a 4-12 season.   That happens.

[ty4atd]

AC gave up all of 6 sacks during the season, the same amount as Whitworth and Villanueva both ProBowlers, and was a good run blocker. He played well and is always available we're not going to get a better LT any time soon.  

[DaveA1102]

7 hours ago, a06cc said:

The guy has a few plays where he actually has good blocks. However overall he has poor technique with his feet and engaging with his arms. 

 

The two plays you showed are from the Cardinals game where AC had his worst game of the year, but since then he has been very, very solid (as pretty much everyone else is telling you).

 

You name me any other player in the entire NFL who played 100% of their teams snaps in a season, and I will find you two plays where they looked bad......

[Coffeedrinker]

16 hours ago, a06cc said:

I’m not the only one dissecting his play. Their are a handful of plays like this. Left alone one on one is something he can’t handle. This play he didn’t give up a sack. People can knock on JB, but if he didn’t step up into the pocket. We all know what could’ve happened. He gets beat by speed, inside and outside moves. Robert Quinn had the guys number in college and now in the pros. Rewatch this years Rams game. He dominated him. 

Yup a very good LT in the NFL wins 88-92% of their battles.  So AC's snap count was 1030 offensive snap, even if we assume the high percentage (which I graded AC more in 88-89% range) that is 83 times he gets beat during the season.  So I am not impressed or swayed by someone who posts a few videos.  I would guess we can come up with 80-100 such examples.  That is what I'd expect from a very good LT.

 

2nd, your comment about if JB didn't step up into the pocket.  This is my biggest complaint about PFF and most people who try to talk about olineman.  There is a reason they call it a pocket and not a wall.  The tackles are supposed to ride the defender up field, so the QB can step up in the pocket.  When a QB steps up into the pocket it's not because the tackles are not doing their job, it's because that is the way things are designed.

 

He does have trouble with speed it's one of the reasons why he's a very good LT instead of an elite LT.  Much like Tarik Glenn, Glenn struggled with speed DE until the Colts drafted Freeney, then working with Freeney every day he got better against speed rushers, until the Colts draft a speed rusher he will continue to struggle with speed rushers.

[a06cc]

28 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Yup a very good LT in the NFL wins 88-92% of their battles.  So AC's snap count was 1030 offensive snap, even if we assume the high percentage (which I graded AC more in 88-89% range) that is 83 times he gets beat during the season.  So I am not impressed or swayed by someone who posts a few videos.  I would guess we can come up with 80-100 such examples.  That is what I'd expect from a very good LT.

 

2nd, your comment about if JB didn't step up into the pocket.  This is my biggest complaint about PFF and most people who try to talk about olineman.  There is a reason they call it a pocket and not a wall.  The tackles are supposed to ride the defender up field, so the QB can step up in the pocket.  When a QB steps up into the pocket it's not because the tackles are not doing their job, it's because that is the way things are designed.

 

He does have trouble with speed it's one of the reasons why he's a very good LT instead of an elite LT.  Much like Tarik Glenn, Glenn struggled with speed DE until the Colts drafted Freeney, then working with Freeney every day he got better against speed rushers, until the Colts draft a speed rusher he will continue to struggle with speed rushers.

Tarik Glenn is light years better than AC. You can’t compare the two. Also we played subpar teams. I would expect him to close out the season on a high note. 2018 at the end of the season I bet he will be gone. 

[Coffeedrinker]

42 minutes ago, a06cc said:

Tarik Glenn is light years better than AC. You can’t compare the two. Also we played subpar teams. I would expect him to close out the season on a high note. 2018 at the end of the season I bet he will be gone. 

You don't remember much about Glenn.  There are both very similar.  AC is better in space than Glenn ever was, Glenn was better at coming down the line.  Glenn had better lower body agility, AC is a bit stronger.  Anyways, until the Colts drafted Freeney (and Mathis) Glenn was just a good to very good LT who struggled against speed rushers.  After practicing against them for a year he figured out how to handle them and then he started going to probowls.

 

But it's interesting that is the only response.

[a06cc]

2 hours ago, Coffeedrinker said:

You don't remember much about Glenn.  There are both very similar.  AC is better in space than Glenn ever was, Glenn was better at coming down the line.  Glenn had better lower body agility, AC is a bit stronger.  Anyways, until the Colts drafted Freeney (and Mathis) Glenn was just a good to very good LT who struggled against speed rushers.  After practicing against them for a year he figured out how to handle them and then he started going to probowls.

 

But it's interesting that is the only response.

Yes I do remember Mr False start. AC hasn’t even made a pro bowl. You can not compare the two. Glenn was 6’ 5” and 332 pounds. Way heavier and all around better player. We’re in year 8 of the guys career and I can assure you it’s not getting any better. 

[crazycolt1]

33 minutes ago, a06cc said:

Yes I do remember Mr False start. AC hasn’t even made a pro bowl. You can not compare the two. Glenn was 6’ 5” and 332 pounds. Way heavier and all around better player. We’re in year 8 of the guys career and I can assure you it’s not getting any better. 

Pro bowls mean exactly nothing in the NFL. That game is more of who is the most popular, not the most talented. There are player all over the league that get overlooked as far as the pro bowl every year.

If that is how you judge how good a player is then I suggest finding a different  view of things.

Example 1 :  T.Y. Hilton. There is no way he had a pro bowl season but yet he is in.

Example 2 : Doyle, he has played well enough for the pro bowl but has been overlooked two years now.

[Coffeedrinker]

2 hours ago, a06cc said:

Yes I do remember Mr False start. AC hasn’t even made a pro bowl. You can not compare the two. Glenn was 6’ 5” and 332 pounds. Way heavier and all around better player. We’re in year 8 of the guys career and I can assure you it’s not getting any better. 

Actually I addressed that.  Glenn didn't make the probowl until he practiced against Freeney for a couple of years.

[a06cc]

3 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

Pro bowls mean exactly nothing in the NFL. That game is more of who is the most popular, not the most talented. There are player all over the league that get overlooked as far as the pro bowl every year.

If that is how you judge how good a player is then I suggest finding a different  view of things.

Example 1 :  T.Y. Hilton. There is no way he had a pro bowl season but yet he is in.

Example 2 : Doyle, he has played well enough for the pro bowl but has been overlooked two years now.

Ty has had clear votes for probowl seasons. This year yes I don’t think he should’ve made it. Doyle no he shouldn’t have made it. Too inconsistent at times.

[a06cc]

1 hour ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Actually I addressed that.  Glenn didn't make the probowl until he practiced against Freeney for a couple of years.

I don’t want to hear Dwight Freeney helping Tarik Glenn at practice helped him get into the Pro Bowl. He had to face other opponents who used different techniques. Practice and game day are two different animals. Again not once has AC made it to a probowl. Doesn’t matter if we draft a “speed” rusher as you say. The guy is going on season 8. He isn’t getting any better at all. What about going up against Rob Mathis for years at practice?

[ty4atd]

4 hours ago, a06cc said:

I don’t want to hear Dwight Freeney helping Tarik Glenn at practice helped him get into the Pro Bowl. He had to face other opponents who used different techniques. Practice and game day are two different animals. Again not once has AC made it to a probowl. Doesn’t matter if we draft a “speed” rusher as you say. The guy is going on season 8. He isn’t getting any better at all. What about going up against Rob Mathis for years at practice?

Well if probowls are the be all end all Tarik Glenn didn't make one until his 8th season. Weird I thought guys don't improve that late in their careers. Costanzo is easily in the top half of starting LTs in the league.

[NewColtsFan]

 

Why is this AC conversaton going on?      It's old and very outdated.     AC has done nothing but get better.

 

Here's a story from Colts.com,  it's from week 15 or 16, late December...   and in it,  Ballard says AC is playing the best football of his career.      Pro Football Focus rates AC as the 12th best tackle of the season and the 17th best overall lineman in all of football.

 

http://www.colts.com/news/article-1/Playing-The-Best-Football-Of-His-Career-Anthony-Castonzo-Seeks-Strong-Team-Finish/05eb4aed-492a-4170-b374-6907921afdb9

 

The case is closed.     It's settled.     What is to debate? 

 

You can disagree with it all you want,  but you're disagreeing with experts.    Like Chris Ballard, the GM of the Colts.

 

 

 

[CopenhagenColt]

AC may not end up in the HOF, but we could be a lot worse off at LT. IMO he's the best lineman we have.

Now just throw as much money at Norwell as it takes to sign him. Trade down with Jets/Broncos in the draft and snap up Nelson in the first round and we'll have the foundation for a really good O-line for years to come. With Luck hopefully back, and a solid RB prospect (there are tons of them in the 2018 draft), we'll have improved our offense significantly.

[Coffeedrinker]

On 1/13/2018 at 2:03 AM, NewColtsFan said:

 

You can disagree with it all you want,  but you're disagreeing with experts.    Like Chris Ballard, the GM of the Colts, and Coffeedrinker.

 

 

 

Fixed it for you.

[NewColtsFan]

3 hours ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Fixed it for you.

 

And Damn glad you did!     

[Myles]

AC is pretty solid especially considering the rest of the line.