Stitches' Colts Mock Off-season ver.2.0(FINAL)

[stitches]

In my first mock I was more aggressive and it was more representative of my bias rather than in what I expect Ballard to do. This one is the mock where I would try to be closer to what I expect Ballard to actually do. So here we go... 

 

I'm using Overthecap's Colts page for salary numbers. I'm using this article for Colts' own free agents.

I will be using spotrac's free agency tracker to find other teams' free agents and if there is market value figure listed, I will try to be close to it, unless I deem it ridiculous for one reason or another. 

For the draft I will be using fanspeak's mock system. I will run it with Matt Millers board, but I will try to take players based on how I feel about the players without trying to cheat the system(for example if a player I have ranked no. 20 is there on the board at 26 and is BPA, but is ranked 77 on Miller's board I will NOT pass on him because I know I can draft him in later rounds, I would consider this cheating the system because I have information that in the real world GMs don't really have). 

 

Starting Team Cap Space: $102,447,644

 

Own Free Agents:

Unrestricted FAs

Pierre Desir  - I kind of think that if a deal was going to be done it would have already happened. 

Clayton Geathers - same... but also... look for other team's FAs in the following sections... 

Margus Hunt, DL - 2 year 9M 4.5 guaranteed

Dontrelle Inman, WR 

Mike Mitchell. SS 1 year 2.5M guaranteed

Matt Slauson, OG retired

Adam Vinatieri, K 1 year 3.875M guaranteed

Mark Glowinski, OG - 3 years, 16.2M, 4.2M fully guaranteed 
Najee Goode, LB
Ryan Grant, WR
Geneo Grissom, DE
Ryan Hewitt, TE
J'Marcus Webb, OT
JJ Wilcox, SS
Al Woods, DT

 

Restricted FAs

Evan Boehm OC/OG - original-round tender(1 year/2.05M)

Mathias Farley, S - original round tender(1 year/2.05M)

Chester Rogers, WR - original round tender (1 year/2.05M)

Chris Milton -no tender
Corey Moore - no tender
Ross Travis - 1 year $645,000

 

 

Exclusive rights FAs

Marcus Johnson, WR 1 year 660K

Luke Rhodes, LB/LS/ST 1 year 660K

 

*deals already done and included in the 102M cap calculation

 

---Total Spent on Own FAs: 24.99M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $92,477,644

 

Other Teams' FAs:

Preston Smith, DE, 26 years old. 4 years 48M(28M guaranteed, 12M fully guaranteed in the first year)  - here's a young free agent coming off his rookie contract. Ex-2nd round pick. A player who's been improving every year and has shown some exciting things athletically. He is an athletic freak who will fit seamlessly into our aggressive attacking scheme(eventual replacement for Sheard) 

 

Adam Humphries , WR 25 years old, 4 years 36M(19M guaranteed, 9M fully guaranteed 1st year). In my last mock I did mock Tyrell Williams to the Colts, but the more arguments I've heard on this board and the more I've been thinking about it Humphreys is more the type of receiver that our scheme is hungry for - a receiver who can catch short slants from the slot and get some yards after the catch. He will also be cheaper than Williams. Also... keep in mind the draft is coming shortly after FA and I like a lot of the potential outside receivers in the 2nd round range in the draft. 

 

Landon Collins, SS, 25 year old, 4 years 40M(21M guaranteed, 10M fully guaranteed 1st year) - I've been on the record that we should either go for one of the elite safeties in FA, or we should try to sign someone from the discount bin. This is the former - a player who has excelled when put closer to the LOS, already has several pro-bowl appearances and I do think he will fit great with Malik Hooker in base backages, but can also be used as a dime linebacker in some sub-packages. 

 

KJ Wright, LB, 29 years old... 2 years 10M (5M guaranteed, 5M first year) - here's a player who suffered 2 knee injuries last year that cut his season short(non-ACL) and IMO that's why he will have somewhat of a subdued market. I firmly believe in his talent, though. He's a versatile linebacker who excels in coverage and this is something we desperately need to put next to Darius Leonard. He allowed a 1 reception per 13 snaps in coverage last season. I think this is the best available LB help we can get that is not too old and not too expensive and is good enough to be pegged as a starter next to Leonard. 

 

Cam Fleming, OT, 26 years old, 1 year/3M - a solid swing tackle/spot starter/depth

 

Justin Coleman, CB 26years old - 2years 8M (5M guaranteed, 4M 1st year) - solid CB for competition/depth... Again... he's still young too, comes from Seattle, just like Desir. 

 

Kerry Hyder, DE/DT, 27 years old - 1 year, 1M - he had a great season with 8 sacks in 2016 as a rotational pass-rusher for Detroit but he tore his Achilles tendon in pre-season in what was supposed to be his breakout season in 2017. He returned to action the second half of last season but was used mainly as an interior lineman on passing downs. This is me taking a shot at a guy who had shown to have high potential in the past and hoping that being one more season removed from his injury will see him return to his previous form.  

 

So here we go

 

---Total Spent on Other Teams' FAs: $46M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $46,477,644

 

And here comes the draft... 

 

Round 1. Pick 26 Jerry Tillery, DT, Notre Dame... I LOVED him on tape! And he performed great at the combine. There are rumors about scouts having concerns about his focus on football(i.e. he is a smart person and he has interests outside of football), but I don't know how to assess that. All I can do is watch what I see and what I see I'm liking a lot. He is one of the best interior pass-rushers I've seen in this draft. He has great power and explosiveness in his hands  and has natural quickness that gives a ton of trouble to offensive linemen. He has it all as a prospect - the physical tools and length, the athleticism and some OK technical basis from which to build on. Just put the Stanford tape if you want to see the best defensive lineman game of the season. Yah, I said it. It wasn't Wilkins or Bosa or Josh Allen, or Quinnen Williams that had the best game of the season IMO... it was Tillery and he might have single-handedly tanked the stock of a solid prospect like Nate Herbig on the Stanford OLine. 

 

Round 2. Pick 34, Hakeem Butler, WR, Iowa State. Well, here's to hoping. I feel like after the combine he will be gone in the first, but I hope you allow me this slight optimistic outcome. People who have followed the WR threads around here know about my crush on Butler and I don't know if I have to say much more. He is a natural X-receiver with immense size and great athleticism for his size. He will never be a natural lateral separator because his huge frame makes him lack the required agility, but he does have the physicality, "that's my ball" mentality and straight line speed to win on the outside. He can also be used as a mismatch weapon on the inside or in stacked formations that force smaller defenders to jump for the ball with him (6'6" with huge wingspan vs nickel corners that are usually under 6'0"... guess who I'm taking in those matchups?) 

 

Round 2. Pick 59 Sean Bunting, CB, Central Michigan - after he put up a good combine I have watched several games of his this week. He's very interesting prospect and has the traits that get corners drafted high. Long(although a bit lanky), has great movement skills mirroring opponents, smooth transitions, seamless flip of the hips. Can and should get stronger/add a bit of bulk in order to be better help in run defense/getting of blocks, but that's why you are getting him here and not in the 1st round. He has good instincts in zone coverage. Great ball-skills - seeks the ball and competes for it, doesn't wait for it to come to the receiver to disrupt the reception - has 9 career interceptions and 15 PDs. 

 

Round 3, pick 89 Bobby Okereke, LB, Stanford - Good size, LONG hands... similar to Darius Leonard last year. Playmaker... similar to Darius Leonard. Fills the stat-sheet... similar to Darius Leonard. Great movement skills, doesn't hesitate to lay a hit on opponents, although might need to get a bit stronger. Great vision when the DLine clears his path to the ballcarier. Great read and react ability. Sometimes takes bad angles in the open field... but then again... this is why he's here in the 3d. 

 

Round 4, pick 128 Dru Samia, OG, Oklahoma - solid guard prospect with some versatility and good movement (has played some tackle in Oklahoma)

 

Round 4, pick 135 Rodney Anderson, RB, Oklahoma... he keeps falling to this place in most mocks I see. I guess it's understandable because of his injury, but I cannot let him fall any further. IMO had he stayed healthy he would be a 1st-2nd round RB with speed, ability to make people miss and ability to catch the ball. IMO he's a complete RB prospect... if you can get him healthy. 

 

Round 5, pick 165 Foster Moreau, TE, LSU - Long athletic TE, who was a victim of LSU's horrific passing game and bad QB play for the last 4 years. IMO there is untapped potential there. 

 

Round 6, pick 200 Hunter Renfrow, WR, Clemson - great hands, good router runner. Slot receiver in our rotation. 

 

Round 7, pick 242 Will Harris, S, Boston College... athletic safety, probably better around the box, doesn't make plays on the ball... take a shot on his athleticism. 

 

 

---Total Spent on Draftees: $8M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $38,477,644

 

Depth chart:

Offense:
QB: Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett, Phillip Walker
RB: Marlon Mack, Rodney Anderson, Nyheim Hines, Jordan Wilkins
WR1: TY Hilton, Zach Pascal, Daurice Fountain,  Steve Ishmael
WR2: Hakeem Butler, Deon Cain, Marcus Johnson, Krishawn Hogan
Slot: Adam Humphries, Chester Rogers, Hunter Renfrow, James Wright, Jordan Veasy
TE1: Jack Doyle, Mo Alie-Cox, Billy Brown
TE2: Eric Ebron, Ross Travis, Foster Moreau
LT: Anthony Castonzo, Cam Fleming, , Antonio Garcia
LG: Quenton Nelson, Dru Samia
OC: Ryan Kelly, Evan Boehm
RG: Mark Glowinski, Joe Haeg
RT: Braden Smith, Le'Raven Clark, De'Ondre Wesley

Deffense:
LDE: Jabaal Sheard, Denico Autry, Jihad Ward, Al-Quadin Muhammad
DT: Jerry Tillery,  Grover Stewart, Hassan Ridgeway
3T: Margus Hunt, Tyquan Lewis, Kerry Hyder, DeShawn Williams
RDE: Preston Smith, Kemoko Turay, Carroll Phillips
WILL: Darius Leonard, Bobby Okereke, Anthony Winbush
MIKE: KJ Wright, Anthony Walker Jr., Skai Moore 
SAM: Matthew Adams, Zaire Franklin
SS: Landon Collins, Mike Mitchell, Will Harris, Isaiah Johnson,  Ahmad Thomas
FS: Malik Hooker, Mathias Farley, George Odum, Rolan Milligan
RCB: Quincy Wilson, Jalen Collins
LCB: Justin Coleman, Sean Bunting, D.J. Killings
Slot: Kenny Moore II, Nate Hairston

Special teams:
LS: Luke Rhodes
P: Rigoberto Sanchez
K: Adam Vinatieri 

 

*names in green are rookies

**names in red are new FAs

 

I probably need more work on the CBs but... oh well... it is what it is... FA legal tampering starts soon so, I didn't have much time remaining. 

 

Any thoughts and critique are welcome. Cheers everybody  

 

(also, I used my last mock as a skeleton for this one, so it's possible that there are remnants of it remaining on this one, if you see something that doesn't make sense(like if I've mentioned a player in the depth chart that we didn't acquire), please don't hesitate to tell me, so I can correct it) 

[#12.]

I'm not big on Preston Smith, but overall, I would take it.  

 

Also, whether it gets done or not, who knows, but I do believe they're interested is Tyrell Williams.

 

It will be interesting to see what their plans are for Lewis moving forward.  

[stitches]

It's been pointed out to me that the market for KJ Wright might be MUCH higher than what I've posted here(as in more than double). If that's the case, I feel like Ballard would choose not to pursue him, thus you can assume he's not on the team... 

[BProland85]

Not a fan on your draft...too many reaches. Tillery should be there with our late 2nd same as Butler. 

[That Guy]

3 hours ago, stitches said:

WILL: Darius Leonard, Bobby Okereke, Anthony Winbush
MIKE: KJ Wright, Anthony Walker Jr., Skai Moore 
SAM: Matthew Adams, Zaire Franklin

Well done.  I wouldn't mind that offseason at all. 

 

If we picked up Wright, I think we'd probably have him play SAM.  Leonard, Walker, and Wright would be our best three LBs; and they'd probably be on the field at the same time. 

[MikeCurtis]

Great draft, tough to disagree with much

 

You have many more FAs being signed.... seven seems like a lot

 

I really want Inman back....... He and Luck were developing a connection

 

And....... he actually catches the ball........

 

 

[NewColtsFan]

7 hours ago, stitches said:

In my first mock I was more aggressive and it was more representative of my bias rather than in what I expect Ballard to do. This one is the mock where I would try to be closer to what I expect Ballard to actually do. So here we go... 

 

I'm using Overthecap's Colts page for salary numbers. I'm using this article for Colts' own free agents.

I will be using spotrac's free agency tracker to find other teams' free agents and if there is market value figure listed, I will try to be close to it, unless I deem it ridiculous for one reason or another. 

For the draft I will be using fanspeak's mock system. I will run it with Matt Millers board, but I will try to take players based on how I feel about the players without trying to cheat the system(for example if a player I have ranked no. 20 is there on the board at 26 and is BPA, but is ranked 77 on Miller's board I will NOT pass on him because I know I can draft him in later rounds, I would consider this cheating the system because I have information that in the real world GMs don't really have). 

 

Starting Team Cap Space: $102,447,644

 

Own Free Agents:

Unrestricted FAs

Pierre Desir  - I kind of think that if a deal was going to be done it would have already happened. 

Clayton Geathers - same... but also... look for other team's FAs in the following sections... 

Margus Hunt, DL - 2 year 9M 4.5 guaranteed

Dontrelle Inman, WR 

Mike Mitchell. SS 1 year 2.5M guaranteed

Matt Slauson, OG retired

Adam Vinatieri, K 1 year 3.875M guaranteed

Mark Glowinski, OG - 3 years, 16.2M, 4.2M fully guaranteed 
Najee Goode, LB
Ryan Grant, WR
Geneo Grissom, DE
Ryan Hewitt, TE
J'Marcus Webb, OT
JJ Wilcox, SS
Al Woods, DT

 

Restricted FAs

Evan Boehm OC/OG - original-round tender(1 year/2.05M)

Mathias Farley, S - original round tender(1 year/2.05M)

Chester Rogers, WR - original round tender (1 year/2.05M)

Chris Milton -no tender
Corey Moore - no tender
Ross Travis - 1 year $645,000

 

 

Exclusive rights FAs

Marcus Johnson, WR 1 year 660K

Luke Rhodes, LB/LS/ST 1 year 660K

 

*deals already done and included in the 102M cap calculation

 

---Total Spent on Own FAs: 24.99M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $92,477,644

 

Other Teams' FAs:

Preston Smith, DE, 26 years old. 4 years 48M(28M guaranteed, 12M fully guaranteed in the first year)  - here's a young free agent coming off his rookie contract. Ex-2nd round pick. A player who's been improving every year and has shown some exciting things athletically. He is an athletic freak who will fit seamlessly into our aggressive attacking scheme(eventual replacement for Sheard) 

 

Adam Humphries , WR 25 years old, 4 years 36M(19M guaranteed, 9M fully guaranteed 1st year). In my last mock I did mock Tyrell Williams to the Colts, but the more arguments I've heard on this board and the more I've been thinking about it Humphreys is more the type of receiver that our scheme is hungry for - a receiver who can catch short slants from the slot and get some yards after the catch. He will also be cheaper than Williams. Also... keep in mind the draft is coming shortly after FA and I like a lot of the potential outside receivers in the 2nd round range in the draft. 

 

Landon Collins, SS, 25 year old, 4 years 40M(21M guaranteed, 10M fully guaranteed 1st year) - I've been on the record that we should either go for one of the elite safeties in FA, or we should try to sign someone from the discount bin. This is the former - a player who has excelled when put closer to the LOS, already has several pro-bowl appearances and I do think he will fit great with Malik Hooker in base backages, but can also be used as a dime linebacker in some sub-packages. 

 

KJ Wright, LB, 29 years old... 2 years 10M (5M guaranteed, 5M first year) - here's a player who suffered 2 knee injuries last year that cut his season short(non-ACL) and IMO that's why he will have somewhat of a subdued market. I firmly believe in his talent, though. He's a versatile linebacker who excels in coverage and this is something we desperately need to put next to Darius Leonard. He allowed a 1 reception per 13 snaps in coverage last season. I think this is the best available LB help we can get that is not too old and not too expensive and is good enough to be pegged as a starter next to Leonard. 

 

Cam Fleming, OT, 26 years old, 1 year/3M - a solid swing tackle/spot starter/depth

 

Justin Coleman, CB 26years old - 2years 8M (5M guaranteed, 4M 1st year) - solid CB for competition/depth... Again... he's still young too, comes from Seattle, just like Desir. 

 

Kerry Hyder, DE/DT, 27 years old - 1 year, 1M - he had a great season with 8 sacks in 2016 as a rotational pass-rusher for Detroit but he tore his Achilles tendon in pre-season in what was supposed to be his breakout season in 2017. He returned to action the second half of last season but was used mainly as an interior lineman on passing downs. This is me taking a shot at a guy who had shown to have high potential in the past and hoping that being one more season removed from his injury will see him return to his previous form.  

 

So here we go

 

---Total Spent on Other Teams' FAs: $46M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $46,477,644

 

And here comes the draft... 

 

Round 1. Pick 26 Jerry Tillery, DT, Notre Dame... I LOVED him on tape! And he performed great at the combine. There are rumors about scouts having concerns about his focus on football(i.e. he is a smart person and he has interests outside of football), but I don't know how to assess that. All I can do is watch what I see and what I see I'm liking a lot. He is one of the best interior pass-rushers I've seen in this draft. He has great power and explosiveness in his hands  and has natural quickness that gives a ton of trouble to offensive linemen. He has it all as a prospect - the physical tools and length, the athleticism and some OK technical basis from which to build on. Just put the Stanford tape if you want to see the best defensive lineman game of the season. Yah, I said it. It wasn't Wilkins or Bosa or Josh Allen, or Quinnen Williams that had the best game of the season IMO... it was Tillery and he might have single-handedly tanked the stock of a solid prospect like Nate Herbig on the Stanford OLine. 

 

Round 2. Pick 34, Hakeem Butler, WR, Iowa State. Well, here's to hoping. I feel like after the combine he will be gone in the first, but I hope you allow me this slight optimistic outcome. People who have followed the WR threads around here know about my crush on Butler and I don't know if I have to say much more. He is a natural X-receiver with immense size and great athleticism for his size. He will never be a natural lateral separator because his huge frame makes him lack the required agility, but he does have the physicality, "that's my ball" mentality and straight line speed to win on the outside. He can also be used as a mismatch weapon on the inside or in stacked formations that force smaller defenders to jump for the ball with him (6'6" with huge wingspan vs nickel corners that are usually under 6'0"... guess who I'm taking in those matchups?) 

 

Round 2. Pick 59 Sean Bunting, CB, Central Michigan - after he put up a good combine I have watched several games of his this week. He's very interesting prospect and has the traits that get corners drafted high. Long(although a bit lanky), has great movement skills mirroring opponents, smooth transitions, seamless flip of the hips. Can and should get stronger/add a bit of bulk in order to be better help in run defense/getting of blocks, but that's why you are getting him here and not in the 1st round. He has good instincts in zone coverage. Great ball-skills - seeks the ball and competes for it, doesn't wait for it to come to the receiver to disrupt the reception - has 9 career interceptions and 15 PDs. 

 

Round 3, pick 89 Bobby Okereke, LB, Stanford - Good size, LONG hands... similar to Darius Leonard last year. Playmaker... similar to Darius Leonard. Fills the stat-sheet... similar to Darius Leonard. Great movement skills, doesn't hesitate to lay a hit on opponents, although might need to get a bit stronger. Great vision when the DLine clears his path to the ballcarier. Great read and react ability. Sometimes takes bad angles in the open field... but then again... this is why he's here in the 3d. 

 

Round 4, pick 128 Dru Samia, OG, Oklahoma - solid guard prospect with some versatility and good movement (has played some tackle in Oklahoma)

 

Round 4, pick 135 Rodney Anderson, RB, Oklahoma... he keeps falling to this place in most mocks I see. I guess it's understandable because of his injury, but I cannot let him fall any further. IMO had he stayed healthy he would be a 1st-2nd round RB with speed, ability to make people miss and ability to catch the ball. IMO he's a complete RB prospect... if you can get him healthy. 

 

Round 5, pick 165 Foster Moreau, TE, LSU - Long athletic TE, who was a victim of LSU's horrific passing game and bad QB play for the last 4 years. IMO there is untapped potential there. 

 

Round 6, pick 200 Hunter Renfrow, WR, Clemson - great hands, good router runner. Slot receiver in our rotation. 

 

Round 7, pick 242 Will Harris, S, Boston College... athletic safety, probably better around the box, doesn't make plays on the ball... take a shot on his athleticism. 

 

 

---Total Spent on Draftees: $8M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $38,477,644

 

Depth chart:

Offense:
QB: Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett, Phillip Walker
RB: Marlon Mack, Rodney Anderson, Nyheim Hines, Jordan Wilkins
WR1: TY Hilton, Zach Pascal, Daurice Fountain,  Steve Ishmael
WR2: Hakeem Butler, Deon Cain, Marcus Johnson, Krishawn Hogan
Slot: Adam Humphries, Chester Rogers, Hunter Renfrow, James Wright, Jordan Veasy
TE1: Jack Doyle, Mo Alie-Cox, Billy Brown
TE2: Eric Ebron, Ross Travis, Foster Moreau
LT: Anthony Castonzo, Cam Fleming, , Antonio Garcia
LG: Quenton Nelson, Dru Samia
OC: Ryan Kelly, Evan Boehm
RG: Mark Glowinski, Joe Haeg
RT: Braden Smith, Le'Raven Clark, De'Ondre Wesley

Deffense:
LDE: Jabaal Sheard, Denico Autry, Jihad Ward, Al-Quadin Muhammad
DT: Jerry Tillery,  Grover Stewart, Hassan Ridgeway
3T: Margus Hunt, Tyquan Lewis, Kerry Hyder, DeShawn Williams
RDE: Preston Smith, Kemoko Turay, Carroll Phillips
WILL: Darius Leonard, Bobby Okereke, Anthony Winbush
MIKE: KJ Wright, Anthony Walker Jr., Skai Moore 
SAM: Matthew Adams, Zaire Franklin
SS: Landon Collins, Mike Mitchell, Will Harris, Isaiah Johnson,  Ahmad Thomas
FS: Malik Hooker, Mathias Farley, George Odum, Rolan Milligan
RCB: Quincy Wilson, Jalen Collins
LCB: Justin Coleman, Sean Bunting, D.J. Killings
Slot: Kenny Moore II, Nate Hairston

Special teams:
LS: Luke Rhodes
P: Rigoberto Sanchez
K: Adam Vinatieri 

 

*names in green are rookies

**names in red are new FAs

 

I probably need more work on the CBs but... oh well... it is what it is... FA legal tampering starts soon so, I didn't have much time remaining. 

 

Any thoughts and critique are welcome. Cheers everybody  

 

(also, I used my last mock as a skeleton for this one, so it's possible that there are remnants of it remaining on this one, if you see something that doesn't make sense(like if I've mentioned a player in the depth chart that we didn't acquire), please don't hesitate to tell me, so I can correct it) 

 

Stiches, my man!     I think you're cooking with gas.

 

Some thoughts to share.     I'll get the easy one out of the way, first.

 

I think you're over-drafting Bobby Okereke...    first, I think he's a Day 3 kid.   Quality back-up.   But I don't see a starter.    So, why use a 3rd round pick on a position where we have Leonard?   That would be his spot.   He's not a Sam or a Mike.    He's a Will.     R5 for me.

 

As to Free Agency.    I love the guys you're buying...   but do you see Ballard buying 4 expensive players?     I won't mind if he does,  but I don't see him buying more than 2.   One on each side of the ball.    A rusher and a receiver.    Four?    Maybe next year.

 

Good effort, my friend!       

[Defjamz26]

Do you really see Ballard shelling out that type of money in FA?

[jameszeigler834]

8 hours ago, stitches said:

In my first mock I was more aggressive and it was more representative of my bias rather than in what I expect Ballard to do. This one is the mock where I would try to be closer to what I expect Ballard to actually do. So here we go... 

 

I'm using Overthecap's Colts page for salary numbers. I'm using this article for Colts' own free agents.

I will be using spotrac's free agency tracker to find other teams' free agents and if there is market value figure listed, I will try to be close to it, unless I deem it ridiculous for one reason or another. 

For the draft I will be using fanspeak's mock system. I will run it with Matt Millers board, but I will try to take players based on how I feel about the players without trying to cheat the system(for example if a player I have ranked no. 20 is there on the board at 26 and is BPA, but is ranked 77 on Miller's board I will NOT pass on him because I know I can draft him in later rounds, I would consider this cheating the system because I have information that in the real world GMs don't really have). 

 

Starting Team Cap Space: $102,447,644

 

Own Free Agents:

Unrestricted FAs

Pierre Desir  - I kind of think that if a deal was going to be done it would have already happened. 

Clayton Geathers - same... but also... look for other team's FAs in the following sections... 

Margus Hunt, DL - 2 year 9M 4.5 guaranteed

Dontrelle Inman, WR 

Mike Mitchell. SS 1 year 2.5M guaranteed

Matt Slauson, OG retired

Adam Vinatieri, K 1 year 3.875M guaranteed

Mark Glowinski, OG - 3 years, 16.2M, 4.2M fully guaranteed 
Najee Goode, LB
Ryan Grant, WR
Geneo Grissom, DE
Ryan Hewitt, TE
J'Marcus Webb, OT
JJ Wilcox, SS
Al Woods, DT

 

Restricted FAs

Evan Boehm OC/OG - original-round tender(1 year/2.05M)

Mathias Farley, S - original round tender(1 year/2.05M)

Chester Rogers, WR - original round tender (1 year/2.05M)

Chris Milton -no tender
Corey Moore - no tender
Ross Travis - 1 year $645,000

 

 

Exclusive rights FAs

Marcus Johnson, WR 1 year 660K

Luke Rhodes, LB/LS/ST 1 year 660K

 

*deals already done and included in the 102M cap calculation

 

---Total Spent on Own FAs: 24.99M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $92,477,644

 

Other Teams' FAs:

Preston Smith, DE, 26 years old. 4 years 48M(28M guaranteed, 12M fully guaranteed in the first year)  - here's a young free agent coming off his rookie contract. Ex-2nd round pick. A player who's been improving every year and has shown some exciting things athletically. He is an athletic freak who will fit seamlessly into our aggressive attacking scheme(eventual replacement for Sheard) 

 

Adam Humphries , WR 25 years old, 4 years 36M(19M guaranteed, 9M fully guaranteed 1st year). In my last mock I did mock Tyrell Williams to the Colts, but the more arguments I've heard on this board and the more I've been thinking about it Humphreys is more the type of receiver that our scheme is hungry for - a receiver who can catch short slants from the slot and get some yards after the catch. He will also be cheaper than Williams. Also... keep in mind the draft is coming shortly after FA and I like a lot of the potential outside receivers in the 2nd round range in the draft. 

 

Landon Collins, SS, 25 year old, 4 years 40M(21M guaranteed, 10M fully guaranteed 1st year) - I've been on the record that we should either go for one of the elite safeties in FA, or we should try to sign someone from the discount bin. This is the former - a player who has excelled when put closer to the LOS, already has several pro-bowl appearances and I do think he will fit great with Malik Hooker in base backages, but can also be used as a dime linebacker in some sub-packages. 

 

KJ Wright, LB, 29 years old... 2 years 10M (5M guaranteed, 5M first year) - here's a player who suffered 2 knee injuries last year that cut his season short(non-ACL) and IMO that's why he will have somewhat of a subdued market. I firmly believe in his talent, though. He's a versatile linebacker who excels in coverage and this is something we desperately need to put next to Darius Leonard. He allowed a 1 reception per 13 snaps in coverage last season. I think this is the best available LB help we can get that is not too old and not too expensive and is good enough to be pegged as a starter next to Leonard. 

 

Cam Fleming, OT, 26 years old, 1 year/3M - a solid swing tackle/spot starter/depth

 

Justin Coleman, CB 26years old - 2years 8M (5M guaranteed, 4M 1st year) - solid CB for competition/depth... Again... he's still young too, comes from Seattle, just like Desir. 

 

Kerry Hyder, DE/DT, 27 years old - 1 year, 1M - he had a great season with 8 sacks in 2016 as a rotational pass-rusher for Detroit but he tore his Achilles tendon in pre-season in what was supposed to be his breakout season in 2017. He returned to action the second half of last season but was used mainly as an interior lineman on passing downs. This is me taking a shot at a guy who had shown to have high potential in the past and hoping that being one more season removed from his injury will see him return to his previous form.  

 

So here we go

 

---Total Spent on Other Teams' FAs: $46M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $46,477,644

 

And here comes the draft... 

 

Round 1. Pick 26 Jerry Tillery, DT, Notre Dame... I LOVED him on tape! And he performed great at the combine. There are rumors about scouts having concerns about his focus on football(i.e. he is a smart person and he has interests outside of football), but I don't know how to assess that. All I can do is watch what I see and what I see I'm liking a lot. He is one of the best interior pass-rushers I've seen in this draft. He has great power and explosiveness in his hands  and has natural quickness that gives a ton of trouble to offensive linemen. He has it all as a prospect - the physical tools and length, the athleticism and some OK technical basis from which to build on. Just put the Stanford tape if you want to see the best defensive lineman game of the season. Yah, I said it. It wasn't Wilkins or Bosa or Josh Allen, or Quinnen Williams that had the best game of the season IMO... it was Tillery and he might have single-handedly tanked the stock of a solid prospect like Nate Herbig on the Stanford OLine. 

 

Round 2. Pick 34, Hakeem Butler, WR, Iowa State. Well, here's to hoping. I feel like after the combine he will be gone in the first, but I hope you allow me this slight optimistic outcome. People who have followed the WR threads around here know about my crush on Butler and I don't know if I have to say much more. He is a natural X-receiver with immense size and great athleticism for his size. He will never be a natural lateral separator because his huge frame makes him lack the required agility, but he does have the physicality, "that's my ball" mentality and straight line speed to win on the outside. He can also be used as a mismatch weapon on the inside or in stacked formations that force smaller defenders to jump for the ball with him (6'6" with huge wingspan vs nickel corners that are usually under 6'0"... guess who I'm taking in those matchups?) 

 

Round 2. Pick 59 Sean Bunting, CB, Central Michigan - after he put up a good combine I have watched several games of his this week. He's very interesting prospect and has the traits that get corners drafted high. Long(although a bit lanky), has great movement skills mirroring opponents, smooth transitions, seamless flip of the hips. Can and should get stronger/add a bit of bulk in order to be better help in run defense/getting of blocks, but that's why you are getting him here and not in the 1st round. He has good instincts in zone coverage. Great ball-skills - seeks the ball and competes for it, doesn't wait for it to come to the receiver to disrupt the reception - has 9 career interceptions and 15 PDs. 

 

Round 3, pick 89 Bobby Okereke, LB, Stanford - Good size, LONG hands... similar to Darius Leonard last year. Playmaker... similar to Darius Leonard. Fills the stat-sheet... similar to Darius Leonard. Great movement skills, doesn't hesitate to lay a hit on opponents, although might need to get a bit stronger. Great vision when the DLine clears his path to the ballcarier. Great read and react ability. Sometimes takes bad angles in the open field... but then again... this is why he's here in the 3d. 

 

Round 4, pick 128 Dru Samia, OG, Oklahoma - solid guard prospect with some versatility and good movement (has played some tackle in Oklahoma)

 

Round 4, pick 135 Rodney Anderson, RB, Oklahoma... he keeps falling to this place in most mocks I see. I guess it's understandable because of his injury, but I cannot let him fall any further. IMO had he stayed healthy he would be a 1st-2nd round RB with speed, ability to make people miss and ability to catch the ball. IMO he's a complete RB prospect... if you can get him healthy. 

 

Round 5, pick 165 Foster Moreau, TE, LSU - Long athletic TE, who was a victim of LSU's horrific passing game and bad QB play for the last 4 years. IMO there is untapped potential there. 

 

Round 6, pick 200 Hunter Renfrow, WR, Clemson - great hands, good router runner. Slot receiver in our rotation. 

 

Round 7, pick 242 Will Harris, S, Boston College... athletic safety, probably better around the box, doesn't make plays on the ball... take a shot on his athleticism. 

 

 

---Total Spent on Draftees: $8M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $38,477,644

 

Depth chart:

Offense:
QB: Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett, Phillip Walker
RB: Marlon Mack, Rodney Anderson, Nyheim Hines, Jordan Wilkins
WR1: TY Hilton, Zach Pascal, Daurice Fountain,  Steve Ishmael
WR2: Hakeem Butler, Deon Cain, Marcus Johnson, Krishawn Hogan
Slot: Adam Humphries, Chester Rogers, Hunter Renfrow, James Wright, Jordan Veasy
TE1: Jack Doyle, Mo Alie-Cox, Billy Brown
TE2: Eric Ebron, Ross Travis, Foster Moreau
LT: Anthony Castonzo, Cam Fleming, , Antonio Garcia
LG: Quenton Nelson, Dru Samia
OC: Ryan Kelly, Evan Boehm
RG: Mark Glowinski, Joe Haeg
RT: Braden Smith, Le'Raven Clark, De'Ondre Wesley

Deffense:
LDE: Jabaal Sheard, Denico Autry, Jihad Ward, Al-Quadin Muhammad
DT: Jerry Tillery,  Grover Stewart, Hassan Ridgeway
3T: Margus Hunt, Tyquan Lewis, Kerry Hyder, DeShawn Williams
RDE: Preston Smith, Kemoko Turay, Carroll Phillips
WILL: Darius Leonard, Bobby Okereke, Anthony Winbush
MIKE: KJ Wright, Anthony Walker Jr., Skai Moore 
SAM: Matthew Adams, Zaire Franklin
SS: Landon Collins, Mike Mitchell, Will Harris, Isaiah Johnson,  Ahmad Thomas
FS: Malik Hooker, Mathias Farley, George Odum, Rolan Milligan
RCB: Quincy Wilson, Jalen Collins
LCB: Justin Coleman, Sean Bunting, D.J. Killings
Slot: Kenny Moore II, Nate Hairston

Special teams:
LS: Luke Rhodes
P: Rigoberto Sanchez
K: Adam Vinatieri 

 

*names in green are rookies

**names in red are new FAs

 

I probably need more work on the CBs but... oh well... it is what it is... FA legal tampering starts soon so, I didn't have much time remaining. 

 

Any thoughts and critique are welcome. Cheers everybody  

 

(also, I used my last mock as a skeleton for this one, so it's possible that there are remnants of it remaining on this one, if you see something that doesn't make sense(like if I've mentioned a player in the depth chart that we didn't acquire), please don't hesitate to tell me, so I can correct it) 

My only knock on butler is he has inconsistent hands.

[stitches]

First of all, thanks for the input everybody! Much appreciated. 

 

3 hours ago, Defjamz26 said:

Do you really see Ballard shelling out that type of money in FA?

 

 

4 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Stiches, my man!     I think you're cooking with gas.

 

Some thoughts to share.     I'll get the easy one out of the way, first.

 

I think you're over-drafting Bobby Okereke...    first, I think he's a Day 3 kid.   Quality back-up.   But I don't see a starter.    So, why use a 3rd round pick on a position where we have Leonard?   That would be his spot.   He's not a Sam or a Mike.    He's a Will.     R5 for me.

 

As to Free Agency.    I love the guys you're buying...   but do you see Ballard buying 4 expensive players?     I won't mind if he does,  but I don't see him buying more than 2.   One on each side of the ball.    A rusher and a receiver.    Four?    Maybe next year.

 

Good effort, my friend!       

 

 

I let most of our own FAs go, so I had to spend money somewhere to replace them. Then later realized KJ Wright will go for much higher amount so this mock should really be without him as I pointed out earlier. 

 

I let Desir go, so I got a CB back... I let Gaethers go, so I got a starter SS back in Collins, I let both of Inman AND Grant go, so I got Humphries back. This is the bare minimum we should be doing. Then I added Preston Smith - pretty much everybody here assumes Ballard will probably spend some money on an EDGE and I didn't even go for the one most want and will cost the most. The rest(Fleming, Hyder) are small signings for depth/camp competition... pretty much every year Ballard has had several of those. With the exception of KJ Wright(which I later stated, I realized will not happen, so just assume he's not on the team(I cannot edit it in order to remove him)), I think it's not that out of the ordinary. We are still left with close to 45M to carry for next season.