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Lots of people will be retracting their statements about Darius Leonard.


BlueShoe

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12 hours ago, BlueShoe said:

 

 

Some of you know my thoughts on DL. I’ve been preaching it for months. DL was my second favorite player for us in this draft, behind Nelson. 

 

 

Love this post. You are absolutely on the money here BlueShoe. Couldn't find much I didn't like about him. Absolute elite potential on Leonard. Got your back here! :thmup:

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43 minutes ago, Calmack said:

For a moment there thought you were talking about the defensive line 

Me too. haha

i am happy tho to see the enthusiasm.  I will give the benefit of doubt .it will be exciting to watch the OL and LBs compete and develop.  We really need them to.  I hope the fans get /stay behind them if the season starts "rough."  The development of this team has a long road ahead. Im look king forward to see last years rookies after an offseason as well. 

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I liked the pick too. Ballard said that he was the clear 5th best linebacker and would not last until the 49th pick. And to be fair, he was right. Like after that, the next LBers picked were Nwosu, Werner and Baker (Carter is more a 3-4 OLB), and Leonard is a good level above them.

 

I love Leonard's size and athletism at the WILL position and by all accounts he has high character and workrate. I think he is going to ball at that weakside cover linebacker position.

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Who knows what the kid will do

 

I am excited to see what we get with him...... He looks like a good prospect

 

He WILL need to step up (just like others draftees)

 

The NFL game is quite a bit faster than the league he came from

 

My fingers are crossed for his success

 

Negative opinions, at this point are moot........  he is our guy..... best to wish him luck (and hope)

 

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12 hours ago, BlueShoe said:

For months. I have never even seen him miss a tackle. That’s how great he is.

 

Some of you know my thoughts on DL. I’ve been preaching it for months. DL was my second favorite player for us in this draft, behind Nelson. 

 

I thought DL had an excellent shot of getting drafted in the first round. I even mocked him in the first round to the Steelers.

 

He was one of the guys that I was keeping an eye on when researching draft prospects.Didnt think we'd take him but I aree he should be good not sold on morrison though

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2 hours ago, MikeCurtis said:

Who knows what the kid will do

 

I am excited to see what we get with him...... He looks like a good prospect

 

He WILL need to step up (just like others draftees)

 

The NFL game is quite a bit faster than the league he came from

 

My fingers are crossed for his success

 

Negative opinions, at this point are moot........  he is our guy..... best to wish him luck (and hope)

 

 

He was 4 picks away from being a first round pick. That’s what the NFL thinks of him. I mocked him at 28 to the Steelers. I thought there was a real chance he would be gone before 36/37. 

 

This off ball linebacker class was incredible. For months, I have said the LB class was unlike any previous drafts in recent memory. People kept claiming positional value (which I do not buy into). 

 

I had 5 linebackers possibly going in the first round and post’s exist on this board where I talked about it (around mid January). 4 of the linebackers went in the top 22 and 5 in the top 36. The exact same ones I talked about possibly going in the first round. Keep in mind that before it actually happened, many people thought it was impossible. It happened, and it wasn’t difficult to see coming. It was an unusual off ball linebacker class, and we benefited from it. 

 

Leonard will play WILL, but there is no reason he cannot someday transition to MIKE. He lined up at MIKE several times in college. He played MIKE at the Senior Bowl. He might play MIKE in the nickel for us. 

 

Leonard stood out at the Senior Bowl, against higher competition than he played in college. He even surprised us all with some unexpected pop from the MIKE position. Something he is not know for. He is known to be a sure tackler. We have not had anyone on this team who is a sure tackler like Leonard since...... It’s been a very long time. 

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8 hours ago, BlueShoe said:

I have sat idle long enough on this topic. I’ve read the comments about Leonard getting overdrafted and Ballard reaching. I have laughed my butt off reading your comments.The crazy thing is that many of you actually believe it. Have you actually scouted DL? I have. For months. I have never even seen him miss a tackle. That’s how great he is.

 

Some of you know my thoughts on DL. I’ve been preaching it for months. DL was my second favorite player for us in this draft, behind Nelson. 

 

I thought DL had an excellent shot of getting drafted in the first round. I even mocked him in the first round to the Steelers.

 

Some people are blind as a bat, or have blind bats leading them. Either way, feel free to have your own opinion. Even though it is completely misguided and uneducated.

 

If I am wrong (which I am not) about DL, then feel free to keep this topic pinned.

 

Do your homework Colts nation. Stop letting everyone else be yours eyes and ears to your own damn opinions. It doesn’t even take very long to accurately scout DL. He is an easy one to figure out, his upside is tremendous, and his skills are undeniable.

 

In a couple of years, free to act like you thought he would be great all along. 

Until they get into an nfl game, every pick is a prospect with potential to bust or blow the roof off. Of course everyone on a discussion board has their opinions of who who have been picked or where they got picked or even what position we picked but that what this place is for, discussion. I like your passion for it but at this point, I’m hopeful that him and every other player we picked balls out hard because it means we’ve improved greatly. Let’s hope this kid is a prow bowler and can later get him into our ROH when he retires. I’m not a scout so I’ll trust whoever the team picks. I remember back in the day when Polian chose Edge over Ricky and I thought who in the heck is this kid and we passed on the great Ricky for this kid. I know many thought Polian had lost his mind and turns out, he was right. I’ll trust the team picking, not that I won’t have my favorites, but they have so much more info on what these kids bring than we do. 

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12 hours ago, BlueShoe said:

Some of you know my thoughts on DL. I’ve been preaching it for months. DL was my second favorite player for us in this draft, behind Nelson. 

 

I thought DL had an excellent shot of getting drafted in the first round. I even mocked him in the first round to the Steelers.

 

 

I'm confused Blueshoe.... do you like Leonard or not? :)

 

personally I think he will be a Day 1 starter at WILL and like most rookies he will look brilliant at times and utterly clueless at other times.  Just as long as the latter become fewer and fewer throughout the year.

 

Thanks for the scouting report and a bit of tooting your own horn.  I hope he turns out as good as you think.  He definitely checks on the boxes with college production, leadership, love of football, hard working and measurables.  He wasn't on my radar but I spend maybe 10-12 hours total "scouting" players not 10-12 hours a day like scouts/GMs and coaches.

 

 

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Don't know much about him other than I saw he ran a slow 40 time.  Then I found out he did that injured and that he really runs in the 4.5's.  Then I was OK with it.  Hope like hell he works out like you say BlueShoe.

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People can say anything they want about a draft pick, good, bad or indifferent.  

 

Nobody can can say their opinion was right until that player performs as a pro.  

 

What they did in college, who they played against, or when they were drafted is all moot now.  

 

BTW @blueshoe, who were all these people?

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3 minutes ago, Smonroe said:

People can say anything they want about a draft pick, good, bad or indifferent.  

 

Nobody can can say their opinion was right until that player performs as a pro.  

 

What they did in college, who they played against, or when they were drafted is all moot now.  

 

BTW @blueshoe, who were all these people?

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, or what some rankings (from someone else) said that gave them that opinion. 

 

Have you not read read people talking about DL being a reach? That would be a surprise, because it has been a reoccurring item of discussion in several threads that I have skimmed through. 

 

It’s amazing to me that out of all the picks we made, Leonard is the one many Colts fans think we reached on. In my mind, both Nelson and Leonard were great value picks (even if both positions would not have been a need). 

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1 hour ago, Jdubu said:

Until they get into an nfl game, every pick is a prospect with potential to bust or blow the roof off. Of course everyone on a discussion board has their opinions of who who have been picked or where they got picked or even what position we picked but that what this place is for, discussion. I like your passion for it but at this point, I’m hopeful that him and every other player we picked balls out hard because it means we’ve improved greatly. Let’s hope this kid is a prow bowler and can later get him into our ROH when he retires. I’m not a scout so I’ll trust whoever the team picks. I remember back in the day when Polian chose Edge over Ricky and I thought who in the heck is this kid and we passed on the great Ricky for this kid. I know many thought Polian had lost his mind and turns out, he was right. I’ll trust the team picking, not that I won’t have my favorites, but they have so much more info on what these kids bring than we do. 

 

I didn’t want Ricky Williams. I felt he had too many miles on his tires. I did not second guess Polian picking Edgerrin over Ricky. 

 

However, I did second guess Polian trading Marshall Faulk away which left us with a huge hole to fill. I also second guessed Polian for not trading the pick to the Saints and Ditka (for their entire draft). 

 

It’s likely we could have traded the Saints and still walked away with Edgerrin. 

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2 minutes ago, BlueShoe said:

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, or what some rankings (from someone else) said that gave them that opinion. 

 

Have you not read read people talking about DL being a reach? That would be a surprise, because it has been a reoccurring item of discussion in several threads that I have skimmed through. 

 

It’s amazing to me that out of all the picks we made, Leonard is the one many Colts fans think we reached on. In my mind, both Nelson and Leonard were great value picks (even if both positions would not have been a need). 

 

No, I don’t read anything that say a player was “a reach”.  Because it’s based on what, somebody like Kiper or McShays opinion, right?

 

Its fun to go back and read their mocks from three or four years ago.  It makes you realize that they don’t know much compared to the real scouts.  

 

Personally, I’ll have faith in Ballard until he proves me wrong.  It didn’t take long for Grigson.  Last year Ballard took one player that never contributed, Thats not a bad draft IMO.

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I've always gone on record to liking Darius Leonard very much. He was a top 5 LB in my opinion in this draft. I had Smith, Edmunds, Evans, and Vander Esh rated higher than him, who all went in the 1st round. So in that regard I somewhat understand why Ballard reached a bit on him if he feared he would miss out on him. 

 

I just thought he could have been had with the mid 2nd round pick as opposed to the very early 2nd. 

 

I would have rather went corner with one of those 2nd round picks. Someone like Carlton Davis who I really liked. 

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7 minutes ago, braveheartcolt said:

Dear OP. Could you not have just posted about DL, and how good you think he is? The arrogant way in which you vilified your fellow fans makes me think you are a complete blank. You also tell us what a brilliant evaluator of talent you are, and how you know you are right. Then you tell us all you had him as a first round pick, which was, er, wrong. I for one could not care less about what you think on the matter. I do however trust Ballard to have made the correct choice, and that is no compliment to you.

 

Did you think the Colts reached for Leonard? 

 

I said he had first round potential. I was 4 picks off of his ceiling to get drafted. He went 36 overall. That’s pretty solid in my book. 

 

I honestly did not think he’d be there at 36/37. 

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Just now, BlueShoe said:

 

Did you think the Colts reached for Leonard? 

 

I was 4 picks off. He went 36 overall. That’s pretty solid in my book. 

I would never contradict an NFL professional over such things. I'm pretty sure our back office knows more than a mere armchair fan does. Plus the draft has a large element of luck involved, so to be so sure makes me feel people have too high an opinion of themselves. Opinions are good, but don't ridicule people who have different views on something which has no current evidence of fact. 

 

I do do hope your are right however......

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4 minutes ago, braveheartcolt said:

I would never contradict an NFL professional over such things. I'm pretty sure our back office knows more than a mere armchair fan does. Plus the draft has a large element of luck involved, so to be so sure makes me feel people have too high an opinion of themselves. Opinions are good, but don't ridicule people who have different views on something which has no current evidence of fact. 

 

I do do hope your are right however......

 

There is more than enough data to justify Leonard going in the top 36. 

 

Take away everything I have preached about DL. The data is there. People who really think we reached are just not doing their homework.

 

I don’t pound the table for every player. There are only a dozen or so I am willing to pound the table for each year. I have an excellent hit rate on the players I believe in. Leonard is one of those players. 

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31 minutes ago, Smonroe said:

 

No, I don’t read anything that say a player was “a reach”.  Because it’s based on what, somebody like Kiper or McShays opinion, right?

 

Its fun to go back and read their mocks from three or four years ago.  It makes you realize that they don’t know much compared to the real scouts.  

 

Personally, I’ll have faith in Ballard until he proves me wrong.  It didn’t take long for Grigson.  Last year Ballard took one player that never contributed, Thats not a bad draft IMO.

 

Yeah. Ballard also added some clarity to last years draft too. He admitted to scouting for players in a defense (34) that he wasn’t used to.

 

Ballard had a good draft in 2017, and when we add in the dynamics of him learning a completely foreign system then it is even more impressive.

 

This draft was more in Ballard’s wheelhouse, and I think he hit it out of the park. 

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Ok, I was one of the posters that said his highlight tape

didn't look all that impressive, much like Grover Stewart's

tape last year.

 

Our 7th round linebacker's highlight reel looks every bit 

impressive as our 2nd rounder. Like a previous poster 

responded to me that the scouts don't only look at 

highlight tapes, but one would think that if they are NFL

Caliber then there should be ample footage of big plays.

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1 hour ago, Coffeedrinker said:

I'm confused Blueshoe.... do you like Leonard or not? :)

 

personally I think he will be a Day 1 starter at WILL and like most rookies he will look brilliant at times and utterly clueless at other times.  Just as long as the latter become fewer and fewer throughout the year.

 

Thanks for the scouting report and a bit of tooting your own horn.  I hope he turns out as good as you think.  He definitely checks on the boxes with college production, leadership, love of football, hard working and measurables.  He wasn't on my radar but I spend maybe 10-12 hours total "scouting" players not 10-12 hours a day like scouts/GMs and coaches.

 

 

 

I am not trying to toot my own horn. I am making a point. :) 

 

I spend many, many hours scouting players every year. Many of the players in the 2019 draft, I scouted last year. 

 

Darius Leonard was an easy pick to make, and more than justified at 36.

 

He might be the most sure tackler I have ever scouted. He doesn’t focus on laying the wood. Instead, he gets players to the ground. It’s very, very impressive to watch. 

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29 minutes ago, BlueShoe said:

 

There is more than enough data to justify Leonard going in the top 36. 

 

Take away everything I have preached about DL. The data is there. People who really think we reached are just not doing their homework.

 

I don’t pound the table for every player. There are only a dozen or so I am willing to pound the table for each year. I have an excellent hit rate on the players I believe in. Leonard is one of those players. 

 

 

Let me refresh your and other folks' memory regarding Kelvin Hayden :) :

 

http://draftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=54052&draftyear=2005&genpos=

 

He was rated a round 5-6 kind of guy and then started making plays for us after being selected in round 2. Polian was drafting for Dungy's system and a hallmark of a good GM is understanding the type of players his coaches want for their system. When Polian drafted Bethea, Robert Mathis etc., a lot of us did not know who they were. We knew pretty soon and then the whole NFL knew. He knew Tom Moore's system as well to recognize skill position players that would fit. Polian did similar things for Marv Levy too. 

 

I will never doubt these GMs who spend countless hours on scouting for a system their coaches want to run. I have more positive vibes for system fits with the players Ballard drafted w.r.t defensive players. He was obviously compelled to fix the OL with a round 1 and round 2 pick, that should tell us all what he felt about the current guards.

 

However, didn't want to start this post on a negative. If you believed in Darius Leonard so much, why did you not back it up with your entry in the Colts Draft Forum contest :) ? You pegged him at Round 3.

 

 

 

 

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4 minutes ago, dodsworth said:

Ok, I was one of the posters that said his highlight tape

didn't look all that impressive, much like Grover Stewart's

tape last year.

 

Our 7th round linebacker's highlight reel looks every bit 

impressive as our 2nd rounder. Like a previous poster 

responded to me that the scouts don't only look at 

highlight tapes, but one would think that if they are NFL

Caliber then there should be ample footage of big plays.

 

The truth is that you cannot come to good conclusions by watching highlight reels. Any player can look great if you only see their best plays. 

 

You have to to watch all the plays. Is the player always around the ball? Check! Does he make all the tackles that he should? Check! Did the player have the ability to disengage blocks and make the tackle? Check! Does the player have good awareness in coverage? Check! Can the player line up in the edge and rush the passer? Check! Can the player disguise blitzes up the middle? Check! 

 

You start with basic questions and then work into the more detailed assessments. Darius Leonard was tremendous in my evaluation. I think he is going to shine as a WILL in our system. He could possibly even play MIKE in special packages or even full time down the road. 

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1 minute ago, chad72 said:

 

 

Let me refresh your and other folks' memory regarding Kelvin Hayden :) :

 

http://draftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=54052&draftyear=2005&genpos=

 

He was rated a round 5-6 kind of guy and then started making plays for us after being selected in round 2. Polian was drafting for Dungy's system and a hallmark of a good GM is understanding the type of players his coaches want for their system. When Polian drafted Bethea, Robert Mathis etc., a lot of us did not know who they were. We knew pretty soon and then the whole NFL knew. He knew Tom Moore's system as well to recognize skill position players that would fit. Polian did similar things for Marv Levy too. 

 

I will never doubt these GMs who spend countless hours on scouting for a system their coaches want to run. I have more positive vibes for system fits with the players Ballard drafted w.r.t defensive players. He was obviously compelled to fix the OL with a round 1 and round 2 pick, that should tell us all what he felt about the current guards.

 

However, didn't want to start this post on a negative. If you believed in Darius Leonard so much, why did you not back it up with your entry in the Colts Draft Forum contest :) ? You pegged him at Round 3.

 

 

 

 

 

That was strategic. I thought he would be gone before 36/37. I put him as option B in the third just in case he fell to us. 

 

Had I known he would be there at 36 then he would have been my A choice at 36. 

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1 hour ago, Jared Cisneros said:

for some reason he wants to call you out for being arrogant. You are easily one of the top draft experts among us on this forum, and he is way out of line.

 

Watching a lot of film doesn't give you the right to talk down to people.  I agree with @braveheartcolt.  If anyone was way out of line, it was @BlueShoe with the condescending tone of the OP.

 

 

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7 hours ago, LockeDown said:

Good tackling is a lost art form in the league.  I look forward to seeing that on our Colts defense. 

Right! I’m so sick of LB, safeties, corners going for the big hit or trying to strip the ball/punch it out while running with a WR or RB .... I’ve seen so many plays go for 20-30 yards more then they should because of it. My 14 year old son has been playing tackle for 8 years now and have been taught correctly how to square up and tackle it’s the most basic of football 101 yet it gets lost because we as spectators applaud the “ BIG HIT “ ..... it needs to be implemented again .... if they concentrated on more tackling and less hitting football would be a lot safer as well. 

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10 minutes ago, stitches said:

And here I was thinking I was highest on him than anyone around here. I had him no. 38 on my personal board for the Colts... I'd gladly share Darius Leonard Island with you @BlueShoe

 

Make room, there are dozens of us. This was the pick I legitimately shouted in  joy over.

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