2 Colts among PFF's top graded rookie OL

[#12.]

They actually got Wilkins out of the trade, too, right?  After trading down to get Turay, they ended up receiving:

 

Nelson

Smith

Turay

2019 2nd

Wilkins

 

Lewis was unrelated, I believe.

 

 

[braveheartcolt]

Dear Mods, there is a few spelling mistakes in the thread title. Could you please amend. It should read "Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda".

 

Ta much.

[richard pallo]

2 minutes ago, a06cc said:

Canstanzo isn’t going to help a guy who came in NFL ready. AC will never be a physical as Nelson period. 

Really.  Physicality has nothing to do with it.  Having an experienced player next to you helps you out immensely. 

[Yoshinator]

Honestly though, I think most of us would of done the same as Ballard in this situation if put on the Clock. If us fans on the forum were able to pull off the trade from 3 to 6, we'd be jumping around like crazy when Nelson reached our pick at 6. A few of us may of picked Roquan or tried to trade down again, but anyone on here who watched Nelson's tape would of been absolutely enthralled with him, and ran to the podium with the pick. With hindsight, I would of traded down and actually got Derwin James, but put on the spot without hindsight, I'm taking Nelson at 6 all day, especially with the situation Luck was in at the time. The only difference with me is I would of traded up to 32 to completely bypass the Browns and Giants before us in the 2nd round and draft Will Hernandez. Nelson was the clear obvious choice to people who knew the draft though.

[MPStack]

I think Nelson was a safe pick, which was also a big need position for the Colts. Ballard couldn't afford to swing and miss drafting that high. I'm okay with Nelson, but still think RB should have been addressed earlier than the 4th or 5th rd.

[Coffeedrinker]

18 minutes ago, a06cc said:

Canstanzo isn’t going to help a guy who came in NFL ready. AC will never be a physical as Nelson period. 

I agree AC will never be as physical as Nelson, as a tackle it's not needed.  But I disagree that AC won't help Nelson develop.  I think help a lot and I think he probably already has.  Just his veteran presences in the film room telling Nelson what certain defenders like to do in different situations, best ways to counter, etc.  And then like JC said with AC in there, Nelson won't have to cheat to his left to help out the tackle, he will be able to focus on his own, now smaller, area of responsibility.

[gspdx]

3 hours ago, Flash7 said:

Respectfully, no you do not have it correct. It's easy to call it complaining, when in fact, it's discussing other opportunities.

 

It's great that we have 2 of the top rated rookie linemen...YAY! BUT McGlinchey and Hernandez, who were drafter later are currently ranked higher...BOO!

 

So, the discussion is, could we have traded back, accumulated more draft picks and still drafted players of equal value? This is not complaining, rather, it's a fair point.

 

Some people are having that conversation.  Some aren't.  And I get your point.  

 

For me I wouldn't base anything on a individual rating on some website 6 games into a guy's career.   Time will tell.  I hope we got the right guys!

 

[Steamboat_Shaun]

2 hours ago, Flash7 said:

Overall, I see your point and agree with you, to an extent. 

 

We did drop from our original draft position of #3 to #6, which allowed us to still draft Nelson, but in addition, also draft other contributing players in Round 2. By using this strategy, you could argue that we added to the overall talent of the team.

 

So why is it so unreasonable to think we could have dropped from the #6 position a little further down and accumulate even more talent, using the same formula that go us to where we are today?

 

Because it's obvious that going into the draft that management viewed Nelson as a cornerstone piece for the offense that Frank Reich wants to run, as well as a top 3 prospect, & if they trade down to 12, no way he's still there.

 

And again, I'll reiterate that I was advocating for that exact trade back scenario in April, because I didn't really buy into all the Nelson hype, especially as a 6th overall pick, but after 6 games of watching that guy pull on run blocks, I'm 100% sold. His pass protection is only going to get better, & his run blocking is already top notch.

[Steamboat_Shaun]

1 hour ago, shastamasta said:

 

Also, I think a list of rookie OL players is sort of silly. How many of them are even starting regularly after 6 games?

 

 

I assumed there was a minimum snap count applied to that ranking, but I didn't look closely.

 

Edit: It's based on a minimum of 20% of snaps played, & Nelson's played every snap, so that likely skews things a bit.

[Coffeedrinker]

6 minutes ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

His pass protection is only going to get better, & his run blocking is already top notch.

All indications are it will get better but I just wanted to say his pass protection is already pretty good.  (I know I'm preaching to the choir)

[IndySouthsider]

Thank goodness Ballard and not DougDew is our GM!

[AwesomeAustin]

I am very happy with Nelson, Smith and Turray so far.  Considering we have an additional 2nd rounder this year we really won the trade and Ballard did a great job getting 2 starters and a solid contributor. 

 

As as far as discussing what we could of got...it’s pointless bc it’s all speculation.  We could of done better or every player in these fake trades could have been hurt in preseason and lost for the year  We did well from what little I can see in the first six games. 

[Lawrence Owen]

8 hours ago, Flash7 said:

Agreed, no GM would take either over Nelson straight up. But I think the question is: Would a GM possibly take McGlinchey or Hernandez and another player possibly either (Josh Jackson, or Christian Kirk, etc) over Nelson by trading out of the #6 spot? Would that have added more talent?

Here's my take on it.  And maybe Ballard see's it this way as well. IDK, can't speak for him, but it makes since.

Our o-line has been bad the past few years because of EXACTLY the thought of using 'lesser' linemen and them not working out.  Why take the chance on someone you think maybe good, as opposed to taking 'the easiest pick i've ever made'? 

I do get your thinking on adding extra quality picks. it's why he made the trade with the Jets.  But you have to realize that you NEED a few blue chips on your team, And where better to get one than perhaps the most important part of your team and the reason your main blue chipper was hurt for so long? The fact he got 2 extra 2nds and still got Nelson to me was hellar GMing.. 

[Lawrence Owen]

7 hours ago, Coffeedrinker said:

I agree AC will never be as physical as Nelson, as a tackle it's not needed.  But I disagree that AC won't help Nelson develop.  I think help a lot and I think he probably already has.  Just his veteran presences in the film room telling Nelson what certain defenders like to do in different situations, best ways to counter, etc.  And then like JC said with AC in there, Nelson won't have to cheat to his left to help out the tackle, he will be able to focus on his own, now smaller, area of responsibility.

This is big.  I've noticed Nelson MANY MANY MANY times, send his left arm to Clark or whom ever is there at the snap while holding his own block with his right, then bringing it back in immediately to fully focus on his man.  If you don't see this as extraordinary, IDK what to say...lol

 

[zibby43]

10 hours ago, a06cc said:

AC has played one game next to Nelson. Having him next to him is not going to help him develop. Nelson came in ready. Guess what? He also actually played his rookie season. 

 

When I was at a clinic taught by one of the best OL coaches in the country, he talked about how having a veteran tackle can help a rookie guard by helping him with communication and working together to combat line games like twists and stunts.

 

You must know more than him.

[LockeDown]

I’m surprised the talk after 6 games is trading down without taking one of the blue chip players.  I expected lots of threads of why didn’t we sit and take Chubb.  Go figure.

[a06cc]

On 10/19/2018 at 5:12 PM, Coffeedrinker said:

I agree AC will never be as physical as Nelson, as a tackle it's not needed.  But I disagree that AC won't help Nelson develop.  I think help a lot and I think he probably already has.  Just his veteran presences in the film room telling Nelson what certain defenders like to do in different situations, best ways to counter, etc.  And then like JC said with AC in there, Nelson won't have to cheat to his left to help out the tackle, he will be able to focus on his own, now smaller, area of responsibility.

Again Nelson isn’t going to need AC’s help. He’ll still have to help AC as he’ll always get beat inside. 

[Track Guy]

This is nothing but good news. All of the people complaining about not taking Chubb don't realize that he wasn't available at 6, and for what it's worth Nelson's pff grade is actually higher than Chubb's. 

 

Watch for Nelson's grade to keep on climbing over the course of the season. Braden Smith has looked very good in his limited action. 

 

These young O-linemen will likely keep improving over time. This is nothing but excellent for our team. Let's get a run game going and watch what it does for our team. 

 

Edit: Nelson also has a higher grade currently than Roquan Smith too.