2021 Stitches' Colts Mock Off-season (ver. 2.0) Make Carson Wentz happy edition

[stitches 8,053]

Here's my second attempt at an off-season mock. Now with the benefit of having Carson Wentz on the roster and the QB position address, I can focus my attention on other issues this roster has. 

 

I'm using Overthecap's Colts page for salary numbers. I'm using Overthecap's Colts free agency page for our 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 unreasonable for one reason or another. 

For the draft I will be using The Draft Network's mock draft machine. I will run it with their predictive 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. 15 is there on the board at 21 and is BPA, but is ranked 65 on their 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). 

 

I've been looking at the cap numbers and just in how much cap trouble a ton of teams are in and IMO this will depress the market a ton, especially for players that are not premier FAs. I've tried to reflect that in this mock. This is NOT a normal year and IMO we will be able to get some bargain short deals. 

 

Starting Team Cap Space: $43,64

 

Restructure: 

Ryan Kelly - Savings 6.75M 

 

Own Free Agents:

Unrestricted FAs

Philip Rivers - retires

Jacoby Brissett - I'm letting him go. 

Justin Houston   Let him go... 

Malik Hooker - to me it's obvious, he's a misfit with our system and Ballard refusing his cheap 5th year option was a sign that we probably are not too interested in keeping him. 

Le'Raven Clark - let him go. 

Tavon Wilson - let him go. 

Chaz Green - let him go. 

Joey Hunt - let him go

Anthony Walker Jr. - IMO he will demand more than I'm willing to pay. Let him go. 

Marlon Mack - I was thinking about resigning him but our cap situation is very far from ideal if you look at it below. So... I'm letting him go. 

T.Y. Hilton - 2 years 20M(11M guaranteed, 10M fully guaranteed year 1) 

Denico Autry - Bring him back on a 1 year 5M contract

Xavier Rhodes - 2 years/16M(9M guaranteed, 8M first year, completely guaranteed) Very good signing, paid off... lets keep him.

T.J. Carrie - 1 year, 1.5M... depth/competition 

Trey Burton - 1 year, 2M, bring him back if he wants back for that price. 

Al-Quadin Muhammad - 1 year, 1.5M depth/competition

 

Restricted FAs

Tremon Smith - released

Mo Alie-Cox - 3 year 8M deal(4M guaranteed, 2.75M guaranteed year 1)

Zach Pascal - second round tender - $3.5M

George Odum - 1 year, 1M dollar contract

 

Exclusive Rights FAs

Ashton Dulin, WR $540,000

Taylor Stallworth, DT $750,000

 

---Total Spent on Own FAs: $29.79M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $13.85M

 

Trades:

- Ben Banogu and Jack Doyle for a 4th round pick to... the Jets? I guess...  

 

---Savings in trades: $5.97M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $19.83M

 

Other Teams' FAs:

-Corey Davis, WR - 4 year 58M (33M guaranteed, 14.5M guaranteed year 1) - Corey Davis finally broke out in his last year with the Titans and was close to getting a 1000 yard season in a run heavy offense where he had to share targets with AJ Brown. Still, he has shown enough to me to project him as an outside receiver, who wins in the vertical game, but also shows refined feel for route running and strong hands. I'd love to have him on the Colts to complete our WR core. 

-Ty Nsekhe, OT - 1 year 3M, he was signed to be a swing tackle for the Bills, but they seem to have established a good starting unit without him. He's still played well in limited snaps over the last several years so I'm signing him to take a shot at a talented player with good physical profile who might be the answer for us at OT. He will be one of the players to compete for LT. 

-David Irving, DT, 1 year, 1M - he already had a work out with the Colts and has history with both Ballard and Eberflus. The Colts give him a chance to get back in the league as a rotational interior rusher with upside.  (seems like he's already been signed... replace him for the same deal with Robert Nkemdiche. DT. 1 year , 1M... )

 

---Total Spent on Other teams'FAs: $18.5M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $1.33M

 

And here comes the draft... 

 

Draft

 

(trade)

Colts trade no. 21 for no. 28 and future 2nd round pick from the New Orleans Saints(who trade up to get Mac Jones). I expect a trade like this to happen. The question is do we go for this year's draft compensation or next year's? In this one I decided that since the hit on next year's draft due to the Wentz trade would be heavier(1st or 2nd next year vs 3d this year) I would supplement next year's draft.

 

Round 1, Pick 28 Taven Jenkins, OT, Oklahoma State I picked him in my last mock in the second round but it feels like he's been getting more and more R1 buzz. At this point I feel like it would be surprising if he didn't go in R1. A very well built tackle with the potential to be a starting OT in the league. He has good movement skills, but also a very solid anchor in pass protection and very good strength and power to reset the LOS in the run game. He has a bit of a nasty streak with tendency of pancaking opponents, something I bet Q will be a fan of. He needs a bit of work on his technique with the pass set, but IMO he can be developed into a very good starter. 

Round 2, Pick 54 Pat Freiermuth, TE, Penn State - Wentz loves targeting TEs and IMO, it's imperative to provide him with strong big target at TE who can do some damage after the catch. Freiermuth is not an explosive athlete but he's an athletic mover with great size, who is a versatile TE with both receiving and run blocking ability. 

Round 4, Pick 107 (from Jets trade above) Kelvin Joseph, CB, Kentucky  One of the long corners in this draft with legit starting outside CB potential(he's been getting a bit of buzz lately and might actually be drafted higher but he was there in my mock so... I'm taking him). He's a bit raw since he has played little since he transfered from LSU to Kentucky, but he fits what Ballard likes - long CB with physicality 

Round 4, Pick 127 Elerson Smith, DE, Northern Iowa An athletic long EDGE player, who popped at the Senior Bowl and we know how Ballard loves his Senior Bowl standouts. He's a good shot to take at a player with traits, who also had great production in his last year in college - 21.5 TFL, 14 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 4 PBUs, 2 blocked punts

Round 5. Pick 166 Jaelon Darden, WR North Texas Incredibly shifty and quick receiver. Makes people miss a lot. He can be our project to supplement and eventually replace TY Hilton

Round 6, Pick 207 Khalil Herbert, RB, Virginia Tech replacement for Mack and eventually for Wilkins.

Round 7, Pick 242 Kobie Whiteside, DT, Missouri - interior depth/competition

 

 

Previously I've counted the money for the rookies signing toward the cap but in reality those 8-9 players that will get contracts will replace other players with similar value futures contract that are accounted for in the top 51 number to begin with. We have over 30 players with salary number of around or under 1M and the dead money on huge majority of them is minuscule. 

 

 

 

Depth chart:

Offense:
QB: Carson Wentz, Jacob Eason
RB: Jonathan Taylor, Nyheim Hines, Jordan Wilkins, Khalil Herbert, Darius Anderson, Benny LeMay, Paul Perkins
WR1: Corey Davis, Michael Pittman Jr, Zach Pascal, Quartney Davis
WR2: TY Hilton, Dezmond Patmon, Gary Jennings Jr
Slot: Parris Campbell, DeMichael Harris, Jaelon Darden
TE1: Pat Freiermuth, Jordan Thomas, Andrew Vollert
TE2: Mo Alie-Cox, Trey Burton, Noah Togiai, Farrod Green
LT: Taven Jenkins, Ty Nsekhe, Casey Tucker
LG: Quenton Nelson, Jake Eldrenkamp
OC: Ryan Kelly, Danny Pinter
RG: Mark Glowinski, Sam Jones
RT: Braden Smith, Will Holden, Carter O'Donnell

Deffense:
LDE: Denico Autry. Tyquan Lewis,
DT: Grover Stewart, Kobie Whiteside, Kameron Cline, Chris Williams
3T:  DeForest Buckner, Robert Nkemdiche,  Rob Windsor
RDE: Al-Quadin Muhammad, Kemoko Turay, Elerson Smith
WILL: Darius Leonard, E.J. Speed
MIKE: Bobby Okereke, Skai Moore
SAM: Zaire Franklin, Matthew Adams, Jordan Glasgow
SS: Khari Willis, Ibraheim Campbell, Rolan Milligan
FS: Julian Blackmon, George Odum
RCB: Xavier Rhodes, Marvell Tell III, Isaiah Rodgers, Andre Chachere, Will Sunderland,
LCB: TJ Carrie, Rock Ya-Sin, Kelvin Joseph, Nick Nelson
Slot: Kenny Moore II, Roderic Teamer

Special teams:
LS: Luke Rhodes
P: Rigoberto Sanchez, Austin Rehkow
K: Rodrigo Blankenship

 

*names in green are rookies

**names in red are new FAs

 

Final thoughts:

- The Colts need to know where they stand with Wentz by the end of the year... and preferably by about week 11. My idea of this mock was to focus heavily on trying to help him be the best QB he can be. I don't want to give him excuses. Give him everything he needs to succeed - protection, weapons galore, good offensive coaching staff. 

- Unfortunately, this means that some of the defensive needs, were neglected in this edition. Unfortunately we don't have enough resources to address everything and this leaves some positions a bit light(DE, CB), but at least I tried returning some key pieces like Rhodes. Autry and Carrie in this case are pure placeholders and bridges toward the future. We need better than them, but hopefully they will be solid enough for this single year.

- How do you feel about the trade back with future asset as compensation? Would you prefer that or current year compensation? I guess if I had taken this year's Saints 2nd instead of next years' I might have been able to better address DE or CB.  

- No vet backup QB. Thoughts? 

- Decided to double down on OT in the draft and FA. We need to address that position and I thought those were two good options to battle it out in camp for the starting spot for this year and hopefully Jenkins wins the spot this year. 

- I love Corey Davis as an option. What are your thoughts? I know people prefer Robinson or Golladay or Godwin, but from what I'm hearing they will all be either franchise tagged or will demand north of 20M a year. I thought Davis was a great option in that context. 

 

Any thoughts and critique are welcome. Cheers everybody 

 

(Disclaimer: I used the blueprint from my my earlier mock so it's possible there are some mistakes/leftovers from it that I didn't catch. Please don't hesitate to point out any glaring errors or things you think are overly unrealistic.)

[w87r 5,024]

3 minutes ago, stitches said:

David Irving, DT, 1 year, 1M - he already had a work out with the Colts and has history with both Ballard and Eberflus. The Colts give him a chance

Irving signed with the Raiders already.

 

 

I will look a little deeper here in a few.

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6 minutes ago, w87r said:

Irving signed with the Raiders already.

 

 

I will look a little deeper here in a few.

Oh damn, I missed that one... thanks...  Replace him with Robert Nkemdiche, who we worked out too. 

[richard pallo 2,573]

How about Agholor instead of Davis and signing a FA DE.  Probably Watt or Miller after he's released. 

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12 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

How about Agholor instead of Davis and signing a FA DE.  Probably Watt or Miller after he's released. 

I don't like Agholor as an option. First, he had his worst years with Wentz and second he's predominantly a slot(80-92% of his snaps are from the slot)... the WR spot we have the most options for already. I just don't like that as an option at all. We need an outside receiver who can win one-on-one and stretch the field. That's Davis. 

 

edit: I just checked and it seems like he played more outside last year... interesting. I still like Davis better I think and I don't trust Agholor.

[Colts1324 398]

I like Pat at TE A LOT. Jenkins is my 4th-5th ranked tackle. There are a couple of others I would prefer there, but it fills a big need. 

 

I'm not huge on Corey Davis at that contract. That would be 14.5 per year, more of what I think JuJu/Fuller will get. I would much rather prefer to have those two. We also HAVE to upgrade at DE. In this mock, we actually decline. Mohammed is a good rotational piece, but should not be starting IMO. 

 

 

[Defjamz26 2,047]

Ideally you could probably get a 3rd round pick for Banogu and Doyle, but you would have to probably throw in a pick as well.

[Bluefire4 407]

Not comfortable paying Corey Davis that much after breaking out in a contract year.

 

Not comfortable at all with Autry and Al Quadin-Muhammed as our starting defensive ends.

 

Would rather just sign TY and try to upgrade at defensive end using Corey Davis's money (though I understand the premise of the mock).

 

I'm really all for letting Autry walk unless it's vet minimum. He had a decent sack year but doesn't get pressure on the quarterback consistently.

 

 

I'm interested to see what these contracts really end up being this offseason. I think a lot of people are overshooting with the cap the way it is due to the pandemic. We'll just have to wait and see... I'd be surprised if TY gets 10 million from anybody.

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2 hours ago, Bluefire4 said:

Not comfortable paying Corey Davis that much after breaking out in a contract year.

I think I will stand with that

2 hours ago, Bluefire4 said:

Not comfortable at all with Autry and Al Quadin-Muhammed as our starting defensive ends.

 

Agree I probably should have tried harder to address DE... but again... We've gotten solid play from them and it will continue to be a rotation with them, Lewis, Turay, Elerson Smith... Ideally I would get another rotational DE. Maybe if I had taken the NO offer with the 2021 second rather than 2022 second... I could have gotten someone like Carlos Basham or Jordan Smith or Payton Turner to complete the rotation. 

 

2 hours ago, Bluefire4 said:

Would rather just sign TY and try to upgrade at defensive end using Corey Davis's money (though I understand the premise of the mock).

 

I'm really all for letting Autry walk unless it's vet minimum. He had a decent sack year but doesn't get pressure on the quarterback consistently.

If we can get someone better for similar money I'd be all in for that for sure. 

2 hours ago, Bluefire4 said:

 

I'm interested to see what these contracts really end up being this offseason. I think a lot of people are overshooting with the cap the way it is due to the pandemic. We'll just have to wait and see... I'd be surprised if TY gets 10 million from anybody.

Yeah, this year will be weird because of the stagnated salary cap for which teams couldn't plan prior to this year. I want to see the contracts too. IMO we will see a ton of 1 year bargain deals(for the teams) with which players will hope the salary cap will bounce back up next year and teams will be willing to spend big again next year. 

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6 hours ago, Colts1324 said:

I like Pat at TE A LOT. Jenkins is my 4th-5th ranked tackle. There are a couple of others I would prefer there, but it fills a big need. 

 

I'm not huge on Corey Davis at that contract. That would be 14.5 per year, more of what I think JuJu/Fuller will get. I would much rather prefer to have those two. We also HAVE to upgrade at DE. In this mock, we actually decline. Mohammed is a good rotational piece, but should not be starting IMO. 

 

 

 

I think I like Corey Davis better in the role we need him to play than JuJu. I don't like the prospects of paying Fuller big money. He's NEVER been healthy. He has zero seasons finished healthy in his first 4 years. I also think... he's very likely to be franchise tagged by HOU if they can't reach agreement on contract. 

 

 

[MikeCurtis 2,248]

11 hours ago, stitches said:

Here's my second attempt at an off-season mock. Now with the benefit of having Carson Wentz on the roster and the QB position address, I can focus my attention on other issues this roster has. 

 

I'm using Overthecap's Colts page for salary numbers. I'm using Overthecap's Colts free agency page for our 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 unreasonable for one reason or another. 

For the draft I will be using The Draft Network's mock draft machine. I will run it with their predictive 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. 15 is there on the board at 21 and is BPA, but is ranked 65 on their 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). 

 

I've been looking at the cap numbers and just in how much cap trouble a ton of teams are in and IMO this will depress the market a ton, especially for players that are not premier FAs. I've tried to reflect that in this mock. This is NOT a normal year and IMO we will be able to get some bargain short deals. 

 

Starting Team Cap Space: $43,64

 

Restructure: 

Ryan Kelly - Savings 6.75M 

 

Own Free Agents:

Unrestricted FAs

Philip Rivers - retires

Jacoby Brissett - I'm letting him go. 

Justin Houston   Let him go... 

Malik Hooker - to me it's obvious, he's a misfit with our system and Ballard refusing his cheap 5th year option was a sign that we probably are not too interested in keeping him. 

Le'Raven Clark - let him go. 

Tavon Wilson - let him go. 

Chaz Green - let him go. 

Joey Hunt - let him go

Anthony Walker Jr. - IMO he will demand more than I'm willing to pay. Let him go. 

Marlon Mack - I was thinking about resigning him but our cap situation is very far from ideal if you look at it below. So... I'm letting him go. 

T.Y. Hilton - 2 years 20M(11M guaranteed, 10M fully guaranteed year 1) 

Denico Autry - Bring him back on a 1 year 5M contract

Xavier Rhodes - 2 years/16M(9M guaranteed, 8M first year, completely guaranteed) Very good signing, paid off... lets keep him.

T.J. Carrie - 1 year, 1.5M... depth/competition 

Trey Burton - 1 year, 2M, bring him back if he wants back for that price. 

Al-Quadin Muhammad - 1 year, 1.5M depth/competition

 

Restricted FAs

Tremon Smith - released

Mo Alie-Cox - 3 year 8M deal(4M guaranteed, 2.75M guaranteed year 1)

Zach Pascal - second round tender - $3.5M

George Odum - 1 year, 1M dollar contract

 

Exclusive Rights FAs

Ashton Dulin, WR $540,000

Taylor Stallworth, DT $750,000

 

---Total Spent on Own FAs: $29.79M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $13.85M

 

Trades:

- Ben Banogu and Jack Doyle for a 4th round pick to... the Jets? I guess...  

 

---Savings in trades: $5.97M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $19.83M

 

Other Teams' FAs:

-Corey Davis, WR - 4 year 58M (33M guaranteed, 14.5M guaranteed year 1) - Corey Davis finally broke out in his last year with the Titans and was close to getting a 1000 yard season in a run heavy offense where he had to share targets with AJ Brown. Still, he has shown enough to me to project him as an outside receiver, who wins in the vertical game, but also shows refined feel for route running and strong hands. I'd love to have him on the Colts to complete our WR core. 

-Ty Nsekhe, OT - 1 year 3M, he was signed to be a swing tackle for the Bills, but they seem to have established a good starting unit without him. He's still played well in limited snaps over the last several years so I'm signing him to take a shot at a talented player with good physical profile who might be the answer for us at OT. He will be one of the players to compete for LT. 

-David Irving, DT, 1 year, 1M - he already had a work out with the Colts and has history with both Ballard and Eberflus. The Colts give him a chance to get back in the league as a rotational interior rusher with upside.  (seems like he's already been signed... replace him for the same deal with Robert Nkemdiche. DT. 1 year , 1M... )

 

---Total Spent on Other teams'FAs: $18.5M ||| Remaining Cap Space: $1.33M

 

And here comes the draft... 

 

Draft

 

(trade)

Colts trade no. 21 for no. 28 and future 2nd round pick from the New Orleans Saints(who trade up to get Mac Jones). I expect a trade like this to happen. The question is do we go for this year's draft compensation or next year's? In this one I decided that since the hit on next year's draft due to the Wentz trade would be heavier(1st or 2nd next year vs 3d this year) I would supplement next year's draft.

 

Round 1, Pick 28 Taven Jenkins, OT, Oklahoma State I picked him in my last mock in the second round but it feels like he's been getting more and more R1 buzz. At this point I feel like it would be surprising if he didn't go in R1. A very well built tackle with the potential to be a starting OT in the league. He has good movement skills, but also a very solid anchor in pass protection and very good strength and power to reset the LOS in the run game. He has a bit of a nasty streak with tendency of pancaking opponents, something I bet Q will be a fan of. He needs a bit of work on his technique with the pass set, but IMO he can be developed into a very good starter. 

Round 2, Pick 54 Pat Freiermuth, TE, Penn State - Wentz loves targeting TEs and IMO, it's imperative to provide him with strong big target at TE who can do some damage after the catch. Freiermuth is not an explosive athlete but he's an athletic mover with great size, who is a versatile TE with both receiving and run blocking ability. 

Round 4, Pick 107 (from Jets trade above) Kelvin Joseph, CB, Kentucky  One of the long corners in this draft with legit starting outside CB potential(he's been getting a bit of buzz lately and might actually be drafted higher but he was there in my mock so... I'm taking him). He's a bit raw since he has played little since he transfered from LSU to Kentucky, but he fits what Ballard likes - long CB with physicality 

Round 4, Pick 127 Elerson Smith, DE, Northern Iowa An athletic long EDGE player, who popped at the Senior Bowl and we know how Ballard loves his Senior Bowl standouts. He's a good shot to take at a player with traits, who also had great production in his last year in college - 21.5 TFL, 14 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 4 PBUs, 2 blocked punts

Round 5. Pick 166 Jaelon Darden, WR North Texas Incredibly shifty and quick receiver. Makes people miss a lot. He can be our project to supplement and eventually replace TY Hilton

Round 6, Pick 207 Khalil Herbert, RB, Virginia Tech replacement for Mack and eventually for Wilkins.

Round 7, Pick 242 Kobie Whiteside, DT, Missouri - interior depth/competition

 

 

Previously I've counted the money for the rookies signing toward the cap but in reality those 8-9 players that will get contracts will replace other players with similar value futures contract that are accounted for in the top 51 number to begin with. We have over 30 players with salary number of around or under 1M and the dead money on huge majority of them is minuscule. 

 

 

 

Depth chart:

Offense:
QB: Carson Wentz, Jacob Eason
RB: Jonathan Taylor, Nyheim Hines, Jordan Wilkins, Khalil Herbert, Darius Anderson, Benny LeMay, Paul Perkins
WR1: Corey Davis, Michael Pittman Jr, Zach Pascal, Quartney Davis
WR2: TY Hilton, Dezmond Patmon, Gary Jennings Jr
Slot: Parris Campbell, DeMichael Harris, Jaelon Darden
TE1: Pat Freiermuth, Jordan Thomas, Andrew Vollert
TE2: Mo Alie-Cox, Trey Burton, Noah Togiai, Farrod Green
LT: Taven Jenkins, Ty Nsekhe, Casey Tucker
LG: Quenton Nelson, Jake Eldrenkamp
OC: Ryan Kelly, Danny Pinter
RG: Mark Glowinski, Sam Jones
RT: Braden Smith, Will Holden, Carter O'Donnell

Deffense:
LDE: Denico Autry. Tyquan Lewis,
DT: Grover Stewart, Kobie Whiteside, Kameron Cline, Chris Williams
3T:  DeForest Buckner, Robert Nkemdiche,  Rob Windsor
RDE: Al-Quadin Muhammad, Kemoko Turay, Elerson Smith
WILL: Darius Leonard, E.J. Speed
MIKE: Bobby Okereke, Skai Moore
SAM: Zaire Franklin, Matthew Adams, Jordan Glasgow
SS: Khari Willis, Ibraheim Campbell, Rolan Milligan
FS: Julian Blackmon, George Odum
RCB: Xavier Rhodes, Marvell Tell III, Isaiah Rodgers, Andre Chachere, Will Sunderland,
LCB: TJ Carrie, Rock Ya-Sin, Kelvin Joseph, Nick Nelson
Slot: Kenny Moore II, Roderic Teamer

Special teams:
LS: Luke Rhodes
P: Rigoberto Sanchez, Austin Rehkow
K: Rodrigo Blankenship

 

*names in green are rookies

**names in red are new FAs

 

Final thoughts:

- The Colts need to know where they stand with Wentz by the end of the year... and preferably by about week 11. My idea of this mock was to focus heavily on trying to help him be the best QB he can be. I don't want to give him excuses. Give him everything he needs to succeed - protection, weapons galore, good offensive coaching staff. 

- Unfortunately, this means that some of the defensive needs, were neglected in this edition. Unfortunately we don't have enough resources to address everything and this leaves some positions a bit light(DE, CB), but at least I tried returning some key pieces like Rhodes. Autry and Carrie in this case are pure placeholders and bridges toward the future. We need better than them, but hopefully they will be solid enough for this single year.

- How do you feel about the trade back with future asset as compensation? Would you prefer that or current year compensation? I guess if I had taken this year's Saints 2nd instead of next years' I might have been able to better address DE or CB.  

- No vet backup QB. Thoughts? 

- Decided to double down on OT in the draft and FA. We need to address that position and I thought those were two good options to battle it out in camp for the starting spot for this year and hopefully Jenkins wins the spot this year. 

- I love Corey Davis as an option. What are your thoughts? I know people prefer Robinson or Golladay or Godwin, but from what I'm hearing they will all be either franchise tagged or will demand north of 20M a year. I thought Davis was a great option in that context. 

 

Any thoughts and critique are welcome. Cheers everybody 

 

(Disclaimer: I used the blueprint from my my earlier mock so it's possible there are some mistakes/leftovers from it that I didn't catch. Please don't hesitate to point out any glaring errors or things you think are overly unrealistic.)

Great Mock

 

Thanks for posting

 

We need TE and OT that could start, and the write ups on both are solid

 

My only concern from this is pass rush, which I think we need

[stitches 8,053]

31 minutes ago, MikeCurtis said:

Great Mock

 

Thanks for posting

 

We need TE and OT that could start, and the write ups on both are solid

 

My only concern from this is pass rush, which I think we need

Agree on DE. Seems like most people here have this as the biggest complaint and it definitely seems like this is the primary issue with this mock off-season. Absolutely agree with it and I knew it when I was putting this together, but even with that I now realize I probably underestimated the issue. If I had to redo this, I would probably get NO 2nd this year rather than in 2022, I would go DE/OT with the two picks from the Saints. This would give us one more highly ranked talent to throw in the rotation.

[MikeCurtis 2,248]

1 hour ago, stitches said:

Agree on DE. Seems like most people here have this as the biggest complaint and it definitely seems like this is the primary issue with this mock off-season. Absolutely agree with it and I knew it when I was putting this together, but even with that I now realize I probably underestimated the issue. If I had to redo this, I would probably get NO 2nd this year rather than in 2022, I would go DE/OT with the two picks from the Saints. This would give us one more highly ranked talent to throw in the rotation.

IMHO, with the way that Wentz/ Reich uses TEs I think we need to use the limited "splash" FA$$ on DE and wait till next year on WR

 

Pass rush is a key driver in making this defense work, and is the ONLY way we can compete against KC, so in my opinion, we need to address, this year

 

In our current WR room, We have Pittman getting better during the year, Hilton getting at least some of his form back (Hopefully we can get him enogh $ to stay), We have Campbell coming back (The guy was healthy at OSU), Pascal is good "big" target......... maybe Patmon can step up

 

With starters coming at LT and TE from this draft that you shared..... the one piece (at least from me) is DE

 

Thanks again for sharing your mock. 

[Two_pound 252]

This is a great plan, though I would take Pitt de Patrick Jones in the 2nd round even though that means we would miss out on a te. Great job overall.

[Colts1324 398]

2 hours ago, Two_pound said:

This is a great plan, though I would take Pitt de Patrick Jones in the 2nd round even though that means we would miss out on a te. Great job overall.

I agree we need a DE. I think Pat F. has legit 3-5 NFL TE ability. I wouldn't be surprised if he rises up draft boards to a late first round/very early second round pick

[HoosierHero 54]

On 2/23/2021 at 6:51 AM, stitches said:

Agree on DE

I’d like to know what you think of Trey Hendrickson? Is he someone that will even be available? 

[stitches 8,053]

7 minutes ago, HoosierHero said:

I’d like to know what you think of Trey Hendrickson? Is he someone that will even be available? 

If I had to guess he will be available(New Orleans are in deep trouble cap-wise). I am not sure Ballard would be willing to outbid everybody else for his signing though. And yes, he is a player we should be interested in IMO. Young, traitsy, productive... 

[Hoose 1,084]

I like your thinking in surrounding Wentz with more talent. That needs to happen. 

I would do a few things differently:

1. If you sign Davis (or a Will Fuller, who is another good option), TY is now expendable. Time to say goodbye. Saves a ton in cap room too.

2. I sign Houston. The Colts need more help on the D-line, and Houston was their best DE. I keep him and let Autry walk. 

3. I keep Joey Hunt. He's a good plug and play backup at C/G, and he won't cost much. Along with Pinter, the Colts have those two backup slots covered cheaply and effectively.

 

I'm in total agreement on Rhodes. A must keep. 

 

Don't know what to think about the return on the Doyle trade. Right now, Banogu has minimal value as a borderline bust; Doyle is a solid if unspectacular TE 1, who has genuine value. Together, I'd think you could do better, but who knows? Given the lack of return, I think the Colts hold onto Banogu to see if they get lucky. Doyle would bring that 4th round pick all by himself, IMO. 

 

I really like your first four picks in the draft. Jenkins is a fast riser, and will likely be gone by early in the 2nd round. He's not my first choice, but that's nit picking. If you want him and he's there at 29, you grab him. With Doyle gone, and an upgrade being needed anyway, getting the second best TE in the draft is a solid move. 

 

Nice job. Thanks for the hard work. 

[ztboiler 302]

On 2/23/2021 at 6:51 AM, stitches said:

Agree on DE. Seems like most people here have this as the biggest complaint and it definitely seems like this is the primary issue with this mock off-season. Absolutely agree with it and I knew it when I was putting this together, but even with that I now realize I probably underestimated the issue. If I had to redo this, I would probably get NO 2nd this year rather than in 2022, I would go DE/OT with the two picks from the Saints. This would give us one more highly ranked talent to throw in the rotation.

I don't think very many off-season Mocks, including professional talking heads, are incorporating the reduced salary cap level enough into Free Agent contract predictions.  All your contract numbers make sense to me in a normal year, none are out of whack with normal market values, but there simply isn't enough money sloshing around the league to fuel them.  It's unfortunate for TY, but if we don't pay him 2yrs/$20M, it's almost certain that nobody else will.  There will be a handful of normal, bank breaking UFA signings to premium and rising second contract players, but the rest of the league's UFA's are mostly going to have to play on cheap one year deals slotted by their relative value.  

 

Even after 1/2 the league finishes slashing their roster to get below minimums, there isn't a third of the cap space available to spend in a normal rising cap year...

[stitches 8,053]

34 minutes ago, ztboiler said:

I don't think very many off-season Mocks, including professional talking heads, are incorporating the reduced salary cap level enough into Free Agent contract predictions.  All your contract numbers make sense to me in a normal year, none are out of whack with normal market values, but there simply isn't enough money sloshing around the league to fuel them.  It's unfortunate for TY, but if we don't pay him 2yrs/$20M, it's almost certain that nobody else will.  There will be a handful of normal, bank breaking UFA signings to premium and rising second contract players, but the rest of the league's UFA's are mostly going to have to play on cheap one year deals slotted by their relative value.  

 

Even after 1/2 the league finishes slashing their roster to get below minimums, there isn't a third of the cap space available to spend in a normal rising cap year...

Yep, I've been thinking about that too... I wonder if the money crunch will affect only the low to mid end FAs or if it will hit the premier ones too. I kind of feel like the premier ones will still get the big bucks but maybe the mid-level ones will be massively affected. BTW if the big time FAs are affected by it, it might be a good idea to spend big now in a depressed market - get a few premier players on what will be considered bargain contracts once the cap start jumping again(hopefully next year)... 

[ztboiler 302]

31 minutes ago, stitches said:

Yep, I've been thinking about that too... I wonder if the money crunch will affect only the low to mid end FAs or if it will hit the premier ones too. I kind of feel like the premier ones will still get the big bucks but maybe the mid-level ones will be massively affected. BTW if the big time FAs are affected by it, it might be a good idea to spend big now in a depressed market - get a few premier players on what will be considered bargain contracts once the cap start jumping again(hopefully next year)... 

History suggests it will affect the middle class the most.  Many, maybe even most mid-level guys will have to join the poverty class.  Even in rising cap years we see the crunch where mid level FA's that miss the early waves of free agency have to settle for a year of chump change.  This year the premium class will have to be thinner and the early waves of free agency shallower until most of the UFA's are gathered between league minimum and about $3M.

 

You make a great point, that a team like the Colts might get a premium guy at a market number Ballard is willing to pay...though I think most premium players will forego multi-year contracts in compressed market that may only last a year.