Colts sign Eric Ebron (merge)

[aaron11]

1 minute ago, dgambill said:

How is Ballard wasting his career. 

the team is actually really bad atm.  we have done nothing to fix the oline, and we lost two of our best defenders from last year.

 

we have gotten worse this offseason, and are going to be counting on rookies to get better.  if he doesnt make good selections with those picks it could be a while before we are any good.

 

i know you said you think luck is playing to 40 or so, but i dont 

[dgambill]

11 minutes ago, PeterBowman said:

https://www.stampedeblue.com/2018/3/20/17141874/new-colts-tight-end-eric-ebron-offers-diverse-skill-set-in-new-look-offense

 

This is a nice little write up as to what Ebron could bring to the Colts O this year.

Excellent breakdown there...everyone should watch that. He will basically be a big bodied wr lining up in the slot outside...and yes even inline. Very flexible....nice chess piece we can use...especially given our OC and Coaches offensive histories of utilizing TEs.

[throwing BBZ]

3 minutes ago, dgambill said:

How is Ballard wasting his career. He didn't put the rosters together that led Luck to taking all those hits and getting injured and even missing a whole season. So how is it worse to take a season to build the team up in the draft around him then it is to get him creamed and knocked out of a season? Force him to carry an inept team for two seasons because it couldn't draft a decent player to help him. Ballard may go if he screws up the next couple drafts...but so far he hasn't wasted anything from Luck...he hasn't even had Luck play for him yet!

 

Luck will continue to waste his own body/career if he doesn't endorse getting rid of the ____ ___ quicker.
Reich and Ballard will give him the opportunities. Aaron is a kid who knows nothing.... about all the Great QB's that never won a SB.  Hall of Famer's at that, whose careers were far from wasted.

[throwing BBZ]

10 minutes ago, aaron11 said:

the team is actually really bad atm.  we have done nothing to fix the oline, and we lost two of our best defenders from last year.

 

we have gotten worse this offseason, and are going to be counting on rookies to get better.  if he doesnt make good selections with those picks it could be a while before we are any good.

 

i know you said you think luck is playing to 40 or so, but i dont 

 

 One defender that played 10 games and another that must be replaced because he can't pressure the QB.
 Think 2020 before we will be actually pretty good and then you will be "getting It". Iray & Ballard have a grown up plan.
  Hopefully by training camp these Tantrums will subside.

[aaron11]

Just now, throwing BBZ said:

 

 One defender that played 10 games and another that must be replaced because he can't pressure the QB.
 Think 2020 before we will be actually pretty good and then you will be "getting It". Iray & Ballard have a grown up plan.
  Hopefully by training camp these Tantrums will subside.

we will be hard pressed to replace hankins and melvin with guys that are any better

 

we probably are going to downgrade at both of those spots, when all we gained was cap space we dont need

 

so hankins doesnt get pressure, but who are going to find that does?  pass rushing DTs are not easy to find at all

[throwing BBZ]

21 minutes ago, Douzer said:

To quicken up the passing game, guys who can get separation early and often are desirable. Ebron fits the formula. Good signing. 

 

 All we need now is a good #2 receiver and a fast possession one.
 There should be some decent vets to come available like Hearns, no later than final cuts.
 Or we can use a 2 and use a later rd, maybe even a surprise udfa to develop as a the poss guy.

 There is no reason to worry about this area. JMO

[azcolt]

Spend a few minutes researching this guy beyond looking at number of catches. It’s hard to find any Lions fans or media backing him and most quotes from Lions management and coaches is at best neutral. This was a guy picked #10 only four years ago and was dumped for lack of performance. Stafford throws the ball as much as almost any qb so of course the guy has a lot of catches. Apparently the last half of 2017 season was much better than the first half but the Lions still dumped him with no good replacement.

[OffensivelyPC]

Seems like a little much for the guy, but it's not a gross overpay.  Hopeful for a revival of sorts, but I'm not exactly singing his praise either.

[Mr.Debonair]

19 minutes ago, azcolt said:

Spend a few minutes researching this guy beyond looking at number of catches. It’s hard to find any Lions fans or media backing him and most quotes from Lions management and coaches is at best neutral. This was a guy picked #10 only four years ago and was dumped for lack of performance. Stafford throws the ball as much as almost any qb so of course the guy has a lot of catches. Apparently the last half of 2017 season was much better than the first half but the Lions still dumped him with no good replacement.

The talent is there. He was a reach at 10, not his fault. Low risk, high reward type signing

[throwing BBZ]

10 minutes ago, aaron11 said:

we will be hard pressed to replace hankins and melvin with guys that are any better

 

we probably are going to downgrade at both of those spots, when all we gained was cap space we dont need

 

so hankins doesnt get pressure, but who are going to find that does?  pass rushing DTs are not easy to find at all

 

I like to read research about what players Ballard will be looking for.
See if you can find the 7-8 interesting prospects here that can become better fits long term than Hankins.
Of course we just have to leave it to the Professionals to build the team the best way they can figure out.
 Al Woods actually graded higher than Hankins and can play Hankins role. And they may like Grover as a prospect.
 Either way Hankins was an expensive 2 down player. We already signed what looks like a VG 3rd down inside pass rusher as our first FA.
 Hassan Ridgeway was used last season as an interior rusher. He may be ready to start in this D.
 And yes Melvin made some plays but he got a modest contract because he is just ok.
 Expect a corner to be chosen in rd 2 that should also be a better long tern prospect. Not a stop gap like Melvin who won't be here when we are once again contenders.
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2018/tracker#dt-tabs:dt-by-position/dt-by-position-input:dl
 

[Flash7]

28 minutes ago, OffensivelyPC said:

Seems like a little much for the guy, but it's not a gross overpay.  Hopeful for a revival of sorts, but I'm not exactly singing his praise either.

I agree with you. It's all a matter of perspective.

 

It's very likely that the people excited about signing Ebron are the same people who applaud not re-signing Moncrief. Moncrief failed to live up to his potential here (even with Luck throwing the ball). Jacksonville is excited about Moncrief's potential, the same way Colts fans are excited about Ebron's potential. 

 

My point: We get rid of 1 guy that didn't live up to his potential and bring in anther guy that hasn't lived up to his potential. We can only hope that somehow because it's Luck throwing the ball and a change of scenery, we get better results. 

[csmopar]

1 hour ago, krunk said:

The "Swoope was never a mismatch" thing is funny to me.   If you've watched Swoope against almost any linebacker you'd know he's definitely a mismatch.  If you watched the Raiders game you'd know his speed even game a defensive back problems.  The only thing he lacks is some more experience, but there's enough proof there to call it more than a flash in the pan.    That's being stubborn and dismissive.    As soon as somebody gets injured it never takes long for the Over Rated crowd to come out spewing nonsense.  The guy can't help that his career just got started in 2016!  I would most certainly roll with Ebron, Swoope, and Doyle.   I see no need to draft another tight end. 

We dont have enough of a sample size to say he was a mismatch.  Dude has played in all of 15 games over 3 years... 15 catches.

 

Heck, even his player profile says it all "He's been talked about as a prospect for a couple years now but has done nothing in the NFL. "

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/9792/erik-swoope

[OffensivelyPC]

3 minutes ago, Flash7 said:

I agree with you. It's all a matter of perspective.

 

It's very likely that the people excited about signing Ebron are the same people who applaud not re-signing Moncrief. Moncrief failed to live up to his potential here (even with Luck throwing the ball), but Jacksonville is excited about Moncrief's potential, the same way Colts fans are excited about Ebron's potential. 

 

My point: We get rid of 1 guy that didn't live up to his potential and bring in anther guy that hasn't lived up to his potential. We can only hope that somehow because it's Luck throwing the ball and a change of scenery, we get better results. 

In fairness, there is reason for optimism with Ebron whereas there wasn't much rreason to be optimistic with Moncrief.  Like you said, he didn't really ever do well when Luck was healthy.  We could have resigned him, but you couldn't really expect much other than more of the same.  Ebron will probably be deployed a little differently and with a better QB.  Who knows how that will pan out, but he could outperform the contract (which is cheaper than Moncrief's deal, BTW) and surprise us all.  At least the possibility exists with Ebron - it didn't really exist with Moncrief.  

 

The likely scenario is he's the compliment to Doyle and not the other way around.

[JColts72]

15 mil for 2 years, way 2 much. U sure Ballard could not get a better TE and cheaper in the draft?

[Cynjin]

1 minute ago, JColts72 said:

15 mil for 2 years, way 2 much. U sure Ballard could not get a better TE and cheaper in the draft?

 

You do understand that is the max he could get?  Why don't you wait to see the details before commenting on the merits the contract.

[TheMose]

2 hours ago, NDcolt said:

That Stafford guy is such a Bum, lol.

Stafford is good but Luck is definitely an upgrade in my opinion. 

[Barry Sears]

3 hours ago, azcolt said:

Spend a few minutes researching this guy beyond looking at number of catches. It’s hard to find any Lions fans or media backing him and most quotes from Lions management and coaches is at best neutral. This was a guy picked #10 only four years ago and was dumped for lack of performance. Stafford throws the ball as much as almost any qb so of course the guy has a lot of catches. Apparently the last half of 2017 season was much better than the first half but the Lions still dumped him with no good replacement.

 

They are just trying not to admit they made a mistake taking him at #10.  He should have been a second rounder at best.  Hopefully, he can get a new start here in our system and prove to be a good signing for us.

[JColts72]

1 hour ago, Cynjin said:

 

You do understand that is the max he could get?  Why don't you wait to see the details before commenting on the merits the contract.

Hey... it's still allowed to have an opinion Ok. Still, waste of money on an underachiever.

[esmort]

1 minute ago, JColts72 said:

Hey... it's still allowed to have an opinion Ok. Still, waste of money on an underachiever.

 

It's allowed ... but when your opinion is based on something still unknown and you are stating it as if it is known than it is an uninformed opinion that is more about sour grapes than reality.

[sracolts84]

I like the signing. A decent back-up TE, who, you never know, with a new change of scenery and coaching, may show to be better than he was in Detroit. It's a low risk, high reward signing. The $15 million is the max value. Good chance he won't see that. And if he does, then he met Ballard's expectations.

 

[Cynjin]

1 hour ago, JColts72 said:

Hey... it's still allowed to have an opinion Ok. Still, waste of money on an underachiever.

 

You don't even know what the contract is.  If he does earn the 15 million,  that would mean he didn't underachieve.  If your opinion was based on what the contract was, then fine,  but that's not the case is it.

[JColts72]

2 hours ago, esmort said:

 

It's allowed ... but when your opinion is based on something still unknown and you are stating it as if it is known than it is an uninformed opinion that is more about sour grapes than reality.

Sensitive colt fans here.

[JColts72]

1 hour ago, Cynjin said:

 

You don't even know what the contract is.  If he does earn the 15 million,  that would mean he didn't underachieve.  If your opinion was based on what the contract was, then fine,  but that's not the case is it.

Fair enough.

[twfish]

10 hours ago, aaron11 said:

we will be hard pressed to replace hankins and melvin with guys that are any better

 

we probably are going to downgrade at both of those spots, when all we gained was cap space we dont need

 

so hankins doesnt get pressure, but who are going to find that does?  pass rushing DTs are not easy to find at all

I'll agree with it being harder to upgrade Hankins. Still not sure what to expect of Grover Stewart. However I've liked what I've seen from Hassan Ridgeway but who knows what to expect from him? 

I have to 100% disagree with Melvin though. It's not like he was a main staple of our cb group. Heck before last year he was burnt toast and a worse option than Greg Toler. It was painful to see him get subbed in. I believe we already had his replacement in Desire who played very well in limited action.

[Albaby]

For what it’s worth, I like this signing.  This is just my opinion but, I feel that EE will work just a little harder now to show the world that he’s worth it.  I also feel that we have better coaches than the Lions did.

[Shive]

I really hope he has a great season, because after his "get to know" video (linked below), he may be one of my favorite players...

 

http://www.colts.com/videos/videos/Get-To-Know-TE-Eric-Ebron/482e2c4b-f8bb-475b-8c55-f18e00481311

 

Something about his energy is just awesome.

[CamMo]

9 minutes ago, Shive said:

I really hope he has a great season, because after his "get to know" video (linked below), he may be one of my favorite players...

 

http://www.colts.com/videos/videos/Get-To-Know-TE-Eric-Ebron/482e2c4b-f8bb-475b-8c55-f18e00481311

 

Something about his energy is just awesome.

 

Agreed. He seems very sincere and a little silly. Definitely hope he shines here.

[stitches]

 

[stitches]

 

[PeterBowman]

33 minutes ago, stitches said:

 

[Coffeedrinker]

On 3/20/2018 at 10:24 AM, azcolt said:

Spend a few minutes researching this guy beyond looking at number of catches. It’s hard to find any Lions fans or media backing him and most quotes from Lions management and coaches is at best neutral. This was a guy picked #10 only four years ago and was dumped for lack of performance. Stafford throws the ball as much as almost any qb so of course the guy has a lot of catches. Apparently the last half of 2017 season was much better than the first half but the Lions still dumped him with no good replacement.

I spent a few minutes do all that.  Actually I did that before the Colts signed him. 

 

No, he's not an all pro (thus the mid range contract).  I'm not sure about you but everything I read and know about Ebron (which I have followed his career because I like the Detroit Lions and root for them whenever they are not playing the Colts) is about what I would expect for a team looking for a solid TE2 option.  If he was a Tony G or Kelce or Gronk type TE he would not be willing to go to a team and be a TE2.

 

Saying Ebron has weaknesses is kind of like talking about the weaknesses of a 7th round draft pick... of course they have weaknesses, else they would not have been available in the 7th round.  I really don't think anyone is expecting Ebron to come in and be a 1000 yard 10+ TD TE for the Colts.  But he is another legitimate receiving threat that will used when D. take away Doyle and TY or keep the focus off Doyle enough so he can continue to do what Doyle does... catch first downs and TDs.

[crazycolt1]

I don't understand why anyone would have a problem with this signing. It is a team friendly signing with also giving Eric a chance to earn his bonus based on performance.

It's not like he was brought in to be the #1 TE.