2019 Draft - Year 3 of Building the Core

[Scott Pennock]

Let's just propose for a minute that year 3 of Chris Ballard and company is the draft that completes the "core" of this Colts team for the next 4-6 years. And while we're at it, let's say that most of, if not all of the young draft picks/udfa/waiver wire pickups start to develop as we hope they do.

 

What would you propose as the "missing links" in year 3 of this process?

 

Let's take a look at the young talent aquired in 2017 and 2018 (so far):

 

QB - Brissett 17 (solid backup who will likely nets us a draft pick(s))

RB - Mack 17, Wilkins 18, Hines 18, McNichols 18

TE - Alie-Cox 17, Travis 17, *Ebron 18

WR - Cain 18, Fountain 18, Ishmael 18, Pascal 18

OL - Glowinski 17, Nelson 18, Smith 18, Douglas 18

 

S - Hooker 17, Odum 18

CB - Wilson 17, Hairston 17, Moore 17, Pipkens 18

LB - Walker 17, Leonard 18, Franklin 18, Adams 18, Moore 18, Thomas 18

DE - Basham 17, Turay 18, Muhammed 18, Phillips 18

DT - Stewart 17

UT - *Autry 18, Lewis 18, Ward 18

 

I listed the practice squad players as there is some real talent there that *could* be developed this year as well.

 

Ward looked like a stud at UT but drafted as a 3-4 defensive end (stupid Raiders).

 

Phillips was a blitzing OLB on that same Illini team, converted to DE by the Jaguars last year and caught in a numbers game with them. 

 

Thomas was a safety at Oklahoma and the Packers converted him to a coverage LB at 232 pounds now still running in the 4.6 range. They cut him in favor of Morrison, so Morrison to the Packers netted us Thomas and Pipkens.....essentially.

 

Speaking of Pipkens, I doubt he stays on our PS long, his tape looks better than Miltons (who was the least talented of the two of he and D.J. White in college). If he shows any ability in ST's he'll get the call.

 

Douglas was a 2nd round pick for a reason and has played for both the Patriots and Falcons, both with solid olines (and has a SB ring) so there is talent there...

 

Ishmael is a polished receiver but lacks speed, kinda like Pascal so he'll have to learn how to translate his talent to production. 

 

Fountain, on the other hand, has all the tools oozing out of him, he just needs to learn how to translate it to the field in the NFL.

 

Moe Alie-Cox will likely supplant Swoope next year as the next bball convert, if Travis Ross (currently on IR) doesn't....

 

McNichols was a beast in college for 2 consecutive years but couldn't handle hard coaching upon getting to the NFL it appears. He shares the same skill set as Hines (runner, receiver, returner) though he had more production than Hines did. If he gets his head screwed on straight that is one heckuva weapon to add to the offensive mix.

 

Based on the positions that have been filled and hopefully grow and blossom this year I think that the 2019 draft will be used to plug and play the following:

 

OT - likely 2 of them that can compete at RT with an eye for the future LT position

 

WR - likely a higher pick that could take over as a number 1 eventually

 

DE - can never have too many pass rushers. 

 

DT - going to need another big body in the Al Woods/Grover Stewart mold

 

UT - again, can never have too many pass rushers

 

DB - adding another CB or SS would never hurt

 

LB - adding more rangy, speedy linebackers can never hurt either

 

What do you think?

[ColtsBlitz]

Texas A&M has a really good receiver. I’d like the Colts to take him if he even qualifies for the draft. Kendrick Rodgers. He has some hands man 

[Jaredfor3]

A lot can happen between week 1 and week 16. 

 

If Luck’s fully back, then yes, I’d say go defensive with a majority of our picks. 

 

If Luck is Chad Pennington, then your starring at another top 5 pick. 

 

Regardless, wide receiver upgrade should be a high priority after the season. 

[Scott Pennock]

10 minutes ago, Jaredfor3 said:

A lot can happen between week 1 and week 16. 

 

If Luck’s fully back, then yes, I’d say go defensive with a majority of our picks. 

 

If Luck is Chad Pennington, then your starring at another top 5 pick. 

 

Regardless, wide receiver upgrade should be a high priority after the season. 

Ugh Chad Pennington.....for Andrews (and our) sake lets hope not.

 

I'm with ya, an uber talented legit #1 receiver would be a high priority!

[Bshultz]

Greedy Williams CB. 

[rock8591]

DT by far IMO. Woods will likely only be around another year. You can't make a 3-4 defense work without a Warren Sapp-like player at DT, just like you can't make a 3-4 work without a NT and pass rushing OLB.

[dodsworth]

Look for Ballard to go defense first pick next season. Just a hunch.

[DougDew]

Not sure I follow, but the thought is that some players who are UDFAs or late round picks will be the "core" of the team?  I think of the core as very good players whom you want to extend or franchise, otherwise you just churn the talent come contract time.  To that extent I'll say the core players right now are:

 

Luck, AC, TY, Kelly, Nelson, Doyle, Ridgeway, Leonard, and Hooker. 

 

AC and TY will have to be replaced with high round draft picks if we are extending the time line to 5 years.  So replacing what we have there will use 2 of the next 4 first round draft picks.  We have 2 more firsts a 4 seconds with which to add to the core.

 

Beyond that time line, Luck becomes an issue.

[DougDew]

deleted double post

[Scott Pennock]

36 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Not sure I follow, but the thought is that some players who are UDFAs or late round picks will be the "core" of the team?  I think of the core as very good players whom you want to extend or franchise, otherwise you just churn the talent come contract time.  To that extent I'll say the core players right now are:

 

Luck, AC, TY, Kelly, Nelson, Doyle, Ridgeway, Leonard, and Hooker. 

 

AC and TY will have to be replaced with high round draft picks if we are extending the time line to 5 years.  So replacing what we have there will use 2 of the next 4 first round draft picks.  We have 2 more firsts a 4 seconds with which to add to the core.

 

Beyond that time line, Luck becomes an issue.

Doyle was an UDFA and you list him as part of the core, but also stipulate that you don't think late round picks or udfa's will be part of the core. 

 

That is quite contradictory......draft status has no bearing on whether one becomes a member of the core.

 

Additionaly, a player does not have to be a Pro Bowler to be a member of the core.

[DougDew]

6 minutes ago, Scott Pennock said:

Doyle was an UDFA and you list him as part of the core, but also stipulate that you don't think late round picks or udfa's will be part of the core. 

 

That is quite contradictory......draft status has no bearing on whether one becomes a member of the core.

 

Additionaly, a player does not have to be a Pro Bowler to be a member of the core.

That's not what I was saying.  My thinking wass based on the level of talent we currently have, not being hopeful that the young players develop.  We got lucky with Doyle.  Based upon his level of talent, I wouldn't plan on finding a replacement with another UDFA.  We also got lucky with TY in the third, but I wouldn't expect to find his replacement in the third.  WR1s go in the first. 

 

I simply wouldn't count on building a base of core players from draft picks beyond the second round, and TY and AC will have to be replaced within 3 years probably.  

 

That's the way I look at it.  Others may see it differently.

[throwing BBZ]

With our 1st 4 draft picks and a couple high quality FA, we would go into today believing a DT, CB, PR/DE, WR, LB, RT, would be addressed.
 And Ballard is in a Fantastic position to do this.

[Luck 4 president]

All I know is CB won’t be drafting BPA 

[MPStack]

On 9/9/2018 at 6:01 PM, rock8591 said:

DT by far IMO. Woods will likely only be around another year. You can't make a 3-4 defense work without a Warren Sapp-like player at DT, just like you can't make a 3-4 work without a NT and pass rushing OLB.

I'm a little confused as Warren Sapp played DT in the Tampa II which was a 4-3 base. The Colts switched to the same scheme for the most part. 

[Valpo2004]

As far as I can tell we need the following either by FA or draft

 

Tackle - I would prefer someone young in the draft that we can break in a RT and then shift over to LT as Castanzo ages.

 

Corner

 

2 LB's

 

WR-2 - I would say FA would be the way to go here.  But we need to shell out money for a decent guy who started for his last team for more then a year and put up 700 to 800 receiving yards min. on a consistent basis.  I feel like the Colts are constantly looking for bargain priced WR-2's.

Grigson did that for a while and now CB is doing the same thing.   And in the end it just leaves TY facing double coverage

 

RB - I put this last because while I'm not sold on our current stable of RB's I want to see a little more from them.  Especially with Mack back into the mix.  

 

 

[stitches]

As others have said - there is a ton of football to be played and a lot of things will get more clear as we go through the season. Positions that we now think of as liability might see emergence of players we didn't think will be great and positions we think of as settled might turn into liabilities at the end of the season. 

 

As it stands right now I think the main areas of concern are

- Pass-rush - both interior and EDGE rusher... if for some reason we get a high pick, chances are there will be a generational type defensive lineman for us to pick. IMO this is the prime candidate for our first round pick, wherever it ends - even after the top 2 in Ed Oliver and Nick Bosa, there is still a ton of talent later in the round that would help our line a lot - Ferrell, Jeffery SImmons, Montez Sweat, Gary, DreMont Jones. Tillery, Davis, Lawrence, Wilkins... there is plethora of high end defensive linemen in this coming draft. IMO it probably will be one of the strongest defensive line groups we've seen get drafted recently. 

- RT - this one has to be fixed and I wouldn't be surprised if we targeted a high priority FA or spent a high pick on a RT with potential to be moved to the left side if we lose Castonzo after his deal is up. 

- CB - this is the one I hope sees the emergence of a solid starter between Wilson, Moore or Pipkins. If not there are some interesting CB prospects in the coming draft - Greedy Williams, Deandre Baker, Amani Oruwariye... others will emerge through the season

- WR - the more I watch the wide receivers in college this year and our lack of receiver who can consistently beat press-man, the more I think Ballard will use one of our first 3 picks on a WR. There are a ton of potential X-receivers in this coming draft. 

- MIKE - I like Moore, but I'm still not sure he is good enough to be long-term high end solution.

 

 

[B~Town]

Our CB's looked to be the weakest link the first game of the season . A lot of games to be played but CB's a  pass rushing specialist and prototype number 1 WR would do wonders for this team . A Alshon Jeffery type 

[AZColt11]

Get the best tackle on the board 1st.  Keep the rebuild going up front by grabbing the best DE available next.  Then WR and CB.

 

Remember, we currently have two 2nd round picks as well.

[ColtJ82]

On 9/10/2018 at 5:33 AM, MPStack said:

I'm a little confused as Warren Sapp played DT in the Tampa II which was a 4-3 base. The Colts switched to the same scheme for the most part. 

He was stating that the 4-3 requires an athletic, penetrating DT and a strong WLB to make the system thrive. Likewise, the 3-4 requires a big Nose to absorb double teams (keep blockers off the LBs) and a Linebacker that can give you pass rush. He is just contrasting the two systems.

[Track Guy]

At some point during the next offseason, I'd like to see another OT and WR on offense. And hopefully a difference making DT and/or an edge rusher on defense. Who we can get in the draft vs free agency, it's early to say at this point but we can start to guess.