[Rapoport] Malik Hooker is feared to have torn Achilles. MRI tomorrow.

[MPStack 4,181]

7 hours ago, EastStreet said:

Not sure I'd call him a bust. More than anything, and injuries aside, I'd call him a bad fit for our scheme.

 

He was a single high C1 lurker in college. Going two high C2, or three high Tampa 2 turned him to a half field or third field hand off manager.

 

If you look at it that way, we kind of wasted a 1st round talent trying to fit him into a C2/T2 zone D. That assumes he would have been a good C1 single high FS of course. He was definitely good at OSU in that role though.

I’ve never been a fan of taking a Safety in the 1st Rd. There kinda of like RBs, being if you select one high, you expect them to be top 5 at their respective position IMO.

 

The Colts had a lot of other needs, but took a Safety who was supposedly a steal in the draft. 
 

I’ll minimize the bust statement and just say he’s been a disappointment for a 15th overall pick. 
 

 

[lollygagger8 10,723]

Hate to say it (and I hope he gets better) but the Defense looked better with him out of the lineup. 

[MTC 6,509]

42 minutes ago, lollygagger8 said:

Hate to say it (and I hope he gets better) but the Defense looked better with him out of the lineup. 

 

Yep, Julian Blackmon looked way more agile out there in coverage.

[chad72 13,095]

Parris Campbell and Malik Hooker, what is the one common theme? Buckeyes. Neither of them can stay healthy for long.

 

No more Buckeyes, Mr. Ballard. 

[Defjamz26 4,787]

Yeah that’s really unfortunate. The way his whole career has turned out has sucked. ACL 4 games into his rookie season, torn meniscus the next season, and now an Achilles. 
 

And while there is clearly some disappointment with him from a production standpoint, I think it’s mostly due to him being a poor scheme fit. He’s a single high in a press man scheme. In our Cover-2 zone, he’s miscast.

 

I wish him well but I was very impressed with Blackmon.

[Dogg63 1,216]

Terrible news for Malik.

[Barry Sears 1,459]

2 minutes ago, Dogg63 said:

Terrible news for Malik.

Hate to see this...he's had a lot of bad luck with injuries.  Maybe he just played his last game as a Colt, too?

[Valpo2004 4,060]

13 hours ago, EastStreet said:

Not sure I'd call him a bust. More than anything, and injuries aside, I'd call him a bad fit for our scheme.

 

He was a single high C1 lurker in college. Going two high C2, or three high Tampa 2 turned him to a half field or third field hand off manager.

 

If you look at it that way, we kind of wasted a 1st round talent trying to fit him into a C2/T2 zone D. That assumes he would have been a good C1 single high FS of course. He was definitely good at OSU in that role though.

 

Didn't he kind of play that role his rookie year and he had 3 picks in 7 games?  

 

I still think a lot of it was because QB's just didn't throw it his direction much.  You didn't see Hooker getting beat in coverage a lot. 

[stitches 9,607]

This is one damn unlucky guy. What a shame... so many serious injuries for such a young player. His career has completely gone off the rails thanks to those constant injuries.  He was one of my favorite prospects in his draft class and started his career so promising... and then...  

[Shafty138 1,919]

22 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Well... If we weren't re-signing him before, we definitely aren't now. The 2017 class in their final year are dropping like flies. Luckily we have Blackmon and Taylor.

Why not? It's gonna be cheap as hell if they want to resign both Hooker and Mack now.... I'd think you would definitely take a look, try to bring back two guys with several years in your system, k ow the coaches, locker room etc....and still have potential, let them come back as depth on incentive laden deals tied to health/snaps played..... If anything I think these Injuries make it MORE likely they re sign with Indy ....unless Ballard decides to use some of the now MASSIVE amount of cap room he's going to have to play with on obvious talent upgrades from each....

[Shafty138 1,919]

10 hours ago, Freenyfan102 said:

He is like bob sander except his play style is awful and was drafted in the first round. 

So he's unlike God Sanders in any way that you went on to list? Lol .... Malik is made of glass, Sanders just used the amount of steroids commonly prescribed to an oz, not a 5-8 Human being, no wonder he kept literally ripping his muscles off the bone.....lol

[EastStreet 7,022]

10 hours ago, MPStack said:

I’ve never been a fan of taking a Safety in the 1st Rd. There kinda of like RBs, being if you select one high, you expect them to be top 5 at their respective position IMO.

 

The Colts had a lot of other needs, but took a Safety who was supposedly a steal in the draft. 
 

I’ll minimize the bust statement and just say he’s been a disappointment for a 15th overall pick. 

Agree 100% on Ss in the 1st round. That is, unless you play a lot of C1. If you play a lot of C1, the FS is critical. If you don't, like us, S is a devalued position requiring a lot less freakish skills. And some S are simply better suited C2 than C1, and vice versa. 

 

I wasn't happy with the pick either, due to other needs. To be honest, with a C2, doubt I'd ever take a S in the first 2 rounds.

 

I'm just very disappointed in the whole situation. Bad fit, bad use of draft capital, etc.. 

[EastStreet 7,022]

5 hours ago, Valpo2004 said:

 

Didn't he kind of play that role his rookie year and he had 3 picks in 7 games?  

 

I still think a lot of it was because QB's just didn't throw it his direction much.  You didn't see Hooker getting beat in coverage a lot. 

Yes. IIRC (feel free to correct me), we've played more zone, and/or more soft zone the last couple years. 

 

And yes, QBs threw far more at Willis last year, and other DBs when Hooker is out there.

 

In short, shouldn't shock anyone to see INTs go down when targets go down, and when instead of lurking across the whole back end, you've only got half the field, or a 3rd of the field to guard.

[dgambill 4,834]

9 hours ago, chad72 said:

Parris Campbell and Malik Hooker, what is the one common theme? Buckeyes. Neither of them can stay healthy for long.

 

No more Buckeyes, Mr. Ballard. 

Should have learned from Polian’s mistake when we drafted Anthony Gonzalez in the 1st rd when we let Stokely walk....then we got literally the same production we were shooting for from like a 4th rd slot man in Austin Collie and replaced Marvin with a 5th rd pick with Garçon although that had mixed results (Marvin would never have dropped that pass in the SB and would have scored on it). Theme...certain positions you rely on your stars to make them better and invest high picks in areas that rely more on individual talent.

[AZColt11 2,054]

I liked this draft pick at the time, but other than a few highlight reel plays (Week 1 last season INT) he has been largely a disappointment who can't stay healthy.  Which is causing which, IDK but it's probably time to move on, and I would consider him one of Ballard's biggest misses in the draft.  This Blackmon kid looks decent so far but I'm going to hold off on anointing him the successor.