Anyone else think Colts aren't as far away as everyone believes?

[Coltfreak]

The Oline  will be much better by default.   Getting rid of Chud and his stupid playbook will do wonders to. Help the Oline.   If it really is McDaniels I believe we could actually roll as is with maybe 1 upgrade if Mewhort retires.

[Coltfreak]

.......................................

[NewEra]

Depends on Luck

[shasta519]

I don't think any team is more than 2-3 seasons away (well except maybe CLE). LA and PHI can attest to that. JAC as well.  Even SEA got great pretty damn quickly. 

 

Luck is obviously the lynchpin, but a savvy GM can take all of the Colts resources and make it happen in a couple of seasons...especially with a legit coaching staff.

[LockeDown]

Free agency changed everything.  You can have 2 good drafts and 2 years of wise free agency and Boom!  You're back in the saddle.  Always assuming you have a QB.

[braveheartcolt]

They are far away. 3,349 miles from where I am sat right now. So I'm thinking they are.....sorry.

[George Peterson]

If they get Luck back and hit a home run in the draft, the sky's the limit. I think they have the talent to be a wild card team if they can spend more time in possession of the football.

[teganslaw]

14 hours ago, Superman said:

 

I don't believe in the Jaguars yet. They're the real deal right now, for sure, but I wonder if they'll be able to sustain this level of play, especially if they keep Bortles. But even aside from him, Calais Campbell is their defensive MVP, and he's 31 and playing out of his mind this year. That won't last. Malik Jackson had a career best year, but could come back down to earth. They still have a lot of young talent, but I'm still skeptical of them.

 

Will you believe in the Jaguars if they beat NE next week? Or will they have to prove themselves more? 

I am getting to be a believer, but Bortles does concern me. If he can play well enough to get into the Superbowl, I'll be very impressed.

[Peterk2011]

23 hours ago, IndyScribe said:

Does anyone else believe the Colts are only a few years away? This season, with a heavily-injured team, and missing Luck, the Colts played a lot of close game and ultimately blew it. If Luck had been playing, or the Colts had a better coach, the Colts would have made the playoffs. I think, with a better coach, and good players from draft/free agency, the Colts can turn it around and are only a few years away.

 

I think this offseason will be crucial. If Luck comes back healthy, Ballard will spend that 80ish millions of cap space well, and he will have a good 2018, I think the Colts will have a chance to bounce back in one offseason. Just look at the Saints. Until last year, that franchise was on downhill. For years, they couldn't get over 0.500 record even with Brees. They were in tight cap situation. They had a bad defense. Not so-so bad, but one of the worst in the league. In some years, they were historically bad. Their offense was too pass happy, they put too much on Brees shoulders. Many believed that a end of an era is coming in New Orleans.

 

They were the worst team in their division. Then, in just one offseason, they turned things around completely. One good free agency, one great draft. And they suddenly have a defense, they are not pass happy any more, but the opposite, one of the best running team. Last year, they were the worst team in their division. This year they won their division ahead of the last 2 years 2 superbowl teams, and a strong up and coming team (Bucs), who many thought will break out this season.

[ThorstenDenmark]

As of right now, we are miles away from even a winning record in the AFC South.

 

All this can change if

1. Andrew Luck comes back healthy and able to play at his former level.

2. We can protect Luck and fix the O-line in the draft and offseason

3. We get a coach who can coach this team better than Pagano

4. We build a defence able to keep us in the game and not let games slip away.

5. Ballard hit bullseye in the next two drafts

6. Injuries dont occur as much as this season

7. We get a coach, which we dont have as of right now ;)

 

That´s a lot of IF´s but if all of this happens, I would say 2 maybe 3 years before we once again can be a perenial contender to a Super Bowl

[Superman]

3 hours ago, teganslaw said:

 

Will you believe in the Jaguars if they beat NE next week? Or will they have to prove themselves more? 

I am getting to be a believer, but Bortles does concern me. If he can play well enough to get into the Superbowl, I'll be very impressed.

 

I think they are as good as they look now, and that might be good enough to beat the Pats. They have the formula, if Bortles can make a few plays.

 

What I question is whether they can sustain this for another season. Campbell and Jackson both just had their best seasons, at the same time. I think their front will regress. Their defense has been mostly injury free this year, and that's rare. I wonder if they're a flash in the pan, a one hit wonder that will fall away after this season.

 

As a team, they remind me of the 2000 Ravens. As great as that defense was, the team regressed quickly and struggled on offense for years. You have to be better at QB than Blake Bortles to have sustained success. 

[ManningGM]

We will be the next powerhouse team in the AFC after Brady/Belichick retire, not the Raiders. 

[dgambill]

27 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I think they are as good as they look now, and that might be good enough to beat the Pats. They have the formula, if Bortles can make a few plays.

 

What I question is whether they can sustain this for another season. Campbell and Jackson both just had their best seasons, at the same time. I think their front will regress. Their defense has been mostly injury free this year, and that's rare. I wonder if they're a flash in the pan, a one hit wonder that will fall away after this season.

 

As a team, they remind me of the 2000 Ravens. As great as that defense was, the team regressed quickly and struggled on offense for years. You have to be better at QB than Blake Bortles to have sustained success. 

Yep...you look at most dominant defenses...look how far how fast they fall off. It takes a LOT of assets to keep a dominant defense built. Lots of money, draft picks, hits in free agency. You can largely keep an offense relevant by having an all time great qb. Look at how long Indy, GB, and NE were able to stay successful. Pittsburgh too...I mean without Ben that team would be Cincinnati. Don't get me wrong...if the defense is bottom 1/3 then sure that's a ton to overcome for one player...look at what Brees went through...but even adequate you will see playoffs year after year. Just surround that qb with a couple play makers and they can usually score enough to outlast the opponent. If you want to build a defensive dynasty it will take A LOT of good fortune and cap space. You have to continually draft well and replace your guys because many will leave in free agency. Look at Seattle's run...about 3-4 years and now that team is having to be turned over. Baltimore was the same way they had a couple of good runs with the defense but in the middle it wasn't enough. Denver....its going to see a lot of turnover and we saw it drop off this year. Giants same way. It's why you see NE turnover their roster on that side of the ball so much...but on offense they don't make many changes. If I'm to guess Jacksonville has about 2-3 years with this current defense. Now they will be drafting later so can't just go out and get studs at the top of the draft. Bouye is in his prime...but a couple years that's a tough question you bring him back. Campbell has a couple good years left. Jackson same. Church same. Those are some big key lynch pins in that defense. Don't get me wrong...they have a good core of young guys too but once they hit their second contracts...it will take additional good drafting and some lucky free agent signing to sustain. It's not impossible but that is the truth....not to mention to keep their playmakers on offense too. They have a window here.

 

As for us I agree you still want to build that defense...but the fact that we have Andrew means we can do more with less as he makes up for some short falls. I think an elite pass rusher and a stud ILB and we continued growth in our young secondary we can get back into the thick of things. Definitely need to protect Luck and get another playmaker on the outside so I'd say if we can get back to 9-7 next year then possibly the following year we can make some noise in the playoffs. I think Tennessee takes a step back...Houston steps up....us 3 should all be around that 500 mark...but Jacksonville has the making of winning back to back barring some major injuries.

[Creekside]

20 hours ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

 And don't forget our much improved o-line, veteran running backs, and our good route running receivers, and those top notch pass defending Lb'ers, and our kick ___ pass rush, and those healthy, reliable safeties.
 We are definitely sooo close.   

 

You are talking about 2017.

 

  I'm talking about 2018.

[a06cc]

We’re closer then some may think. Fix the offensive line and a healthy Luck. 

[DalTXColtsFan]

grunch

 

Take the 2017 Colts and add:

 - a healthy Andrew Luck

 - a star guard

 - a star ILB

 - a star #2 WR and

 - an offensive coaching staff who will enable the team to actually get receivers open and consistently sustain drives

 

then as long as we don't get decimated by injuries, we can beat any NFL team on a given day.  NE, Pitt and now Jax are our toughest challenges, but it'll come down to who coaches and plays better on the given day.

 

Look at this corps of good players from 2017:  Anderson, Hankins, Woods, Sheard, Simon, Hooker, Geathers, Hilton, Doyle.  Marlon Mack is showing promise.  Kelly, Costanzo and Haeg can hold their own (I wouldn't mind upgrading Haeg but we have much higher priorities).  Rogers contributes like a #3 WR.  Turbin before his injury was an excellent 3rd-down back.  It's not like we're starting with an empty cubpoard by any means.

 

I don't consider passrusher as high a priority as others.  Between Sheard and SImon, if we can give Ridgeway and Anderson time to develop I think we'll be able to pressure quarterbacks, especially if we can get the offense to give us leads.

 

If Wilson and Hairston can develop into NFL-calibre cornerbacks (and both showed some promise last year, as did Desir) that will only help.

[NannyMcafee]

The Colts will overachieve in 2018

[jblastick]

They're not far away especially if Luck returns.  The secondary should be very good:  Wilson, Melvin, Geathers and Hooker with Hairston, Desir, Moore and Farley backing up.  The D-line should be better with Anderson's return and a possible blue chip (Chubb).  If Ballard turns over the roster in the same manner he did last year. good things can happen.  As far as having a defense that can hold a lead, having an offense that can maintain drives late in games will help that defense immensely.  IMHO of cousre

[Rally5]

On 1/15/2018 at 11:33 AM, IndyScribe said:

Does anyone else believe the Colts are only a few years away? This season, with a heavily-injured team, and missing Luck, the Colts played a lot of close game and ultimately blew it. If Luck had been playing, or the Colts had a better coach, the Colts would have made the playoffs. I think, with a better coach, and good players from draft/free agency, the Colts can turn it around and are only a few years away. Now, obviously, this depends on the health of Luck. If Luck is healthy, I believe the Colts are only 2-3 years away. Defense is young but showed flashes and will mature. Offense will get much better with Luck back in. The main thing is to get a competent HC and add good pieces to the team.

It all depends on Luck for the most part, if Andrew can lead a Pagano coached team with limited talent to 11-5 he can certainly lead a more talented team to a similar record.  No Luck, No playoffs.  Luck when healthy is a top 5 QB IMO, top 5 QB's make perennial playoff appearances.  So, I think the personnel on this team is the best it's been in six years with high draft picks coming and lot's of caps space and God willing better coaching. So, yes, I'm not afraid to tell you I'm optimistic.  How about this, the Jags were 3-13 last year, we should absolutely expect this team to be a playoff team next year with a healthy Andrew Luck.  Moreover, the Titans were marginal at best this year and made the playoffs, so, to me, playoffs must be the minimum expectation unless we lose Andrew.

[Stephen]

On 1/15/2018 at 11:51 AM, Defjamz26 said:

The Colts are 2-3 good off-seasons (Draft and FA) from being an elite NFL team. The OL needs 3 starters, regardless of what scheme we run, aside from Hankins, we need players on the DL, our WR core is depleted, our LB situation is as bad as the Raiders, and the secondary is a work in progress. All of that will take time to fix and will require Ballard to not miss on early round picks and find more Nate Hairston’s. If not this is a 3-5 year project.

I think the secondary is good. The ilb, pass rush, oline, wr, and rb need work

[Defjamz26]

2 minutes ago, Stephen said:

I think the secondary is good. The ilb, pass rush, oline, wr, and rb need work

That’s why I said the secondary is a work in progress. Hooker, Hairston, and Wilson should all be good but there’s question marks at SS and we don’t know what’s going to happen with Melvin so #2 CB could be a concern. We have pieces though.