Weakest Position Group...

[Str8himalaya]

Just a few short weeks away from the draft and looking at the Colts roster is interesting to this point. What are the opinions of our weakest position group at this point? I've been looking at it and honestly, it's not where it was IMO. I have been yelling OL all offseason and while they still have some work to be done, Slauson and a healthy Mewhort are definitely upgrades over what we ran with last year. Still not great, but looking at the LB position, I would say THAT is the position group we are weakest at. We have one starter in that entire group (Simon) and we need some serious talent if we have any chance of playing the 4-3 with any kind of success next year. I am starting to creep closer to taking Edmunds at 6 than almost anyone with the exception of Chubb. I love Nelson, but depending on how things fall, what if you got Edmunds and then Wynn, Price, or Hernandez in the second round? I think that would be the better approach, IMO. Thoughts?

[Cynjin]

I would pick the Bpa, non-qb, at 6 and 2nd round, Bpa at every other pick. I would not pick according to need for any draft pick.

[OffensivelyPC]

Our weakest position is at the LB position and Edge rush on defense and then at OG and RT followed by WR on offense.  The draft is great for LB and OG and I think we should end up with at least a few of those needs addressed.  It's not great at WR as far as there's not really any clear cut outside receiver in the draft, but there are a lot of #2 and slot options available on Day 2 of the draft and we could very easily walk away with one of those guys (Anthony Miller!).  If we don't get Chubb, we could conceivably not had that position addressed in a meaningful manner.  OT is kind of weak this year, though I think there are a handful of guys we could find to play RT to plug that hole.

[aaron11]

simon has never played off the ball line backer, ever

 

he was a DE and DT in his college and high school years 

 

the thing with the oline is that kelly, mewhort and slauson are all coming off of injuries.  no guarantee they all make it back.  i could live with any of chubb, barkley, nelson or edmunds at six.  

[lollygagger8]

ILB is probably the weakest position group as a whole. 

[chad72]

28 minutes ago, aaron11 said:

simon has never played off the ball line backer, ever

 

he was a DE and DT in his college and high school years 

 

the thing with the oline is that kelly, mewhort and slauson are all coming off of injuries.  no guarantee they all make it back.  i could live with any of chubb, barkley, nelson or edmunds at six.  

 

However, Simon might be a good candidate for a guy that drops back a tad for a zone blitz (as opposed to a DL though Ngata did that in his own way) since he is active enough in short spaces, just gets less effective as the space gets extended, IMO.

[stitches]

I don't think there really is a contest here. It's ILB by a wide margin. I don't think  we have a single starter quality player in that group. I don't think we even have a single high end rotation player in that group depending on what you think about Simon and how/whether he will be asked to transition to Sam LB. 

 

In a weird way I think our EDGE group is one of the more established groups on the roster and features players that have been starters(Sheard) or high end rotation players(Autry) and we have a somewhat of a high pick at the position(Basham) who will get the chance to play in his natural position this year...

 

Our O-line IMO is the second group with most need of help(I think we might legit need 3 new starters there), followed by our CBs group. I don't have much to base this on but I don't feel horrible about our DT group. They've never played as starters but they are also young and IMO promising. 

[Defjamz26]

Yeah it’s easily ILB. There’s literally nothing there except an unproven Anthony Walker. The Colts need 2-3 new LBs. Maybe Walker or Simon can play Sam but we definitely need a Will and Mike. 

 

OL is important because Luck has to stay healthy but we’ve got 2 solid starters in Castonzo and and Kelly. 

[Track Guy]

Linebacker is the weakest imo. O-line, running back, wide receiver, and cornerback are all weak too. 

[PowerballBlue]

I really don't want to see Simon drop into coverage.  If he can't play DE, he might be an odd man out.

[Creekside]

4 hours ago, Str8himalaya said:

 Slauson and a healthy Mewhort are definitely upgrades 

 

This is wishful thinking. Both were playing poorly before they were both placed on IR in October. They are both returning from season ending surgery (Slauson , bicep Mewhort, knee).

 

No more Frank Gore who could squeeze through tiny holes and power ahead for 3 yards instead of a 2 yd loss. 

[Str8himalaya]

1 hour ago, egg said:

 

This is wishful thinking. Both were playing poorly before they were both placed on IR in October. They are both returning from season ending surgery (Slauson , bicep Mewhort, knee).

 

No more Frank Gore who could squeeze through tiny holes and power ahead for 3 yards instead of a 2 yd loss. 

I disagree, when both are legit healthy they are average to above average at their position. That's a big IF, but it is true. Mewhort would have pulled a big contract if was healthy, no doubt about it. Unfortunately we can't depend on that, but IF those two are healthy and stay that way they are upgrades for us at both spots. LB we can be completely healthy (and pretty much we are) and we won't be able to seriously compete with the talent at that position. 

[Rackeen305]

Im telling you, The 1 position that we desperately need help with besides OL is DL. Yes we need LB/WR/and another RB but... If that DL is not getting push or containment on the run, you can kiss you LB and DB goodbye. How did the Eagles beat the Pats? and how did the Falcons almost beat the Pats the year prior? How did the Giants beat the Pats?

 

I don't care much about who the first round pick is beyond a few positions however, We need to come out of THIS draft with a said blue chip DT/NT. Think about it, did the Colts get gashed up the middle as much in 2017 as they did in prior years? not that I can remember, and the reason was we had a blue chip player in J.Hankins that held the middle down. IJS.

[Creekside]

1 minute ago, Str8himalaya said:

I disagree, when both are legit healthy they are average to above average at their position. 

 

Of course they are! I never said "they are not upgrades even if healthy and playing to their optimum ability".

 

I did say that they both played poorly in 2017 even before they both had season ending surgery.

 

So, for both of them to recover their optimum ability  is, as you say, "a big IF".

 

According to Rotoworld, Slauson "was run blocking poorly" before being plasced on IR in October.

 

We all know that Mewhort has not played well going on 2 years.

[aaron11]

weakest is probably linebacker right now

 

oline, wr, rb are all weak on offense

 

 

[ColtsBlitz]

Corners or linebackers. We let Melvin go and we really don’t know for sure how good Quincy Wilson is. We need both, let’s put it that way

[Str8himalaya]

4 hours ago, egg said:

 

Of course they are! I never said "they are not upgrades even if healthy and playing to their optimum ability".

 

I did say that they both played poorly in 2017 even before they both had season ending surgery.

 

So, for both of them to recover their optimum ability  is, as you say, "a big IF".

 

According to Rotoworld, Slauson "was run blocking poorly" before being plasced on IR in October.

 

We all know that Mewhort has not played well going on 2 years.

 

I get what you are saying. I will say this, I wouldn't say Mewhort hasn't played well in two years. In 2016 he had a 79.1 grade from PFF and wasn't even fully healthy. We all know he wasn't right at all last year so that was the first year he could even remotely be classified as "poor" and that can almost most certainly be contributed to injury issues. Slauson is on the downside of his career, but he's still a better player than pretty much anyone we played there last year. At the very least he adds legit depth and at best he is a serviceable starter. My point was that we don't even have that at LB currently. If we went into the season with the OL currently and the LBs we have currently I would be a lot more worried about the LBs than OL (although I would expect the OL to struggle again in that scenario). 

[horseshoecrabs]

What exposes defenses the most? even over achieving ones? A offense that is ether 3 and out or turning the ball over constantly. no matter how good your defense  is or not, staying on the field will wear them down in the end. Ball control on offense eats' up the clock, wears your opponents defense down. Our defense in 2006 was not that good. our run defense was atrocious but in the play offs they held it together because Manning quit looking at the time for the quick score, used his 2 tandem  backs for a balanced ball control, took time off the clock, And keep our the defense fresh.With Andrew luck we need to do the same, if we want to keep him for any length of time.

[Luck 4 president]

LB is the weakest group but OL should be prioritized imo

[Four2itus]

I would love to see projected weakness by position in the draft...to actual results 3 years later. 

[Hoose]

LB, WR, and O-line. These are the weakest links. Address these positions competently in the draft and the Colts get better. 

[Rackeen305]

I ask the question again. Who are the Colts starting DT and DE? let me guess, The 2nd DT in AL Woods, and H.Anderson who's often injured (finished the year injured). People will say LB but at least the LBs we do have have started, and played meaningful minutes (J.Sheard, A.Walker, Bashom). 

 

So go and say "Bashom played DE in college", which will prove my point, He wasnt playing DE in the NFL, Bashom played rush OLB. And would you want a 6'1" OLB in Simon as your starting DE? smh that idea alone sounds comical.

 

So once again, from this draft the Colts must come away with a starting DT and or DE ijs.