Everybody breathe....

[CheezyColt]

Our draft is over. Take some time and actually look into our new players. See how they fit into what we want to do. Back off the ledge and/or drop the pitchforks. Just remember this isn't a one man show and the Colts front office is VERY well respected around the league. They're the pros, we're the schmos. Be critical if you feel the need, but don't be a toddler about it.

 

Go Colts!

[PrincetonTiger]

[teganslaw]

[Samu-Rye]

To me, the most entertaining part of the draft starts now. The undrafted hustle

[New Zealands #1 Colts Fan]

[GoColts8818]

I am good with the draft then again I always am because I trust Ballard and assume he knows more about what he’s doing than I do.  

[DougDew]

Other than the big question at LT, I think we improved the roster by quite a bit.  I think our 1st 4 picks are way better than the guys they replaced, and I'm talking about the safety too.  The other three are developmental, but that's what you get that late.

 

BTW, does Tell stick at corner now that we drafted a zone scheme safety?

[csmopar]

Just now, DougDew said:

Other than the big question at LT, I think we improved the roster by quite a bit.  I think our 1st three picks are way better than the guys they replaced, and I'm talking about the safety.  The other three are developmental, but that's what you get that late.

 

BTW, does Tell stick at corner now that we drafted a zone scheme safety?

[csmopar]

21 minutes ago, csmopar said:

You all need to chill. I’m old enough to remember when people hated the following Ballard picks

 

Nelson(half this forum wanted Bradley Chubb)

Brayden Smith

Darius Leonard

Julian Blackmon

Jonathon Taylor

 

no Ballard hasn’t hit on all his picks, but find me a GM who does. But I think we all need to slow down in calling Ballard names and saying he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s shown that he does and even if that’s not happening as fast as we want or the way we want, he and his team have far more resources available to them and far more knowledge. To suggest that a forum poster here knows how to build a team better than a guy getting paid millions and with a staff getting paid that have far more resources than any of us is just plain dumb. 

Posted this in the other thread but it’s worth repeating

[GoColts8818]

7 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Other than the big question at LT, I think we improved the roster by quite a bit.  I think our 1st 4 picks are way better than the guys they replaced, and I'm talking about the safety too.  The other three are developmental, but that's what you get that late.

 

BTW, does Tell stick at corner now that we drafted a zone scheme safety?

I think so.  The Colts appear to be starting to give up on ya-sin so I am going to bet they are going to want to see if Tell can step in and take some of that slack or at the very least push Ya-sin some.  

[NewColtsFan]

8 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Other than the big question at LT, I think we improved the roster by quite a bit.  I think our 1st 4 picks are way better than the guys they replaced, and I'm talking about the safety too.  The other three are developmental, but that's what you get that late.

 

BTW, does Tell stick at corner now that we drafted a zone scheme safety?

Yes....   Tell is a corner no matter what.  Or, at least until he shows he’s not. 

[DougDew]

1 minute ago, NewColtsFan said:

Yes....   Tell is a corner no matter what.  Or, at least until he shows he’s not. 

So to all of those that wanted corner this draft, it was never really in the cards since we now know (assume) that Ballard was probably looking at a 3rd safety instead.

[Moosejawcolt]

28 minutes ago, CheezyColt said:

Our draft is over. Take some time and actually look into our new players. See how they fit into what we want to do. Back off the ledge and/or drop the pitchforks. Just remember this isn't a one man show and the Colts front office is VERY well respected around the league. They're the pros, we're the schmos. Be critical if you feel the need, but don't be a toddler about it.

 

Go Colts!

K....I caught my breathe. I really hope these guys pan out. However, if we go on history and the way Ballard evaluates Dlinemen, I am a little scared. Basham, Turay, Banagou and Lewis. Not one starter out of those 4 players. 3 2nd round picks and a 3rd rounder. Now he has invested another 1st and 2nd in the D line thru the draft. That makes 4 2nd rounders and a 3rd and 1st rounder. That's 6 drafted Dlinemen!!!!  If these 2 don't pan out, Ballard needs to be held accountable. They r picking based on the traits he covets in Dlinmen. My brother inlaw is a Titan fan and he wanted Paye.

[2006Coltsbestever]

 

[B~Town]

[NewColtsFan]

3 minutes ago, Moosejawcolt said:

K....I caught my breathe. I really hope these guys pan out. However, if we go on history and the way Ballard evaluates Dlinemen, I am a little scared. Basham, Turay, Banagou and Lewis. Not one starter out of those 4 players. 3 2nd round picks and a 3rd rounder. Now he has invested another 1st and 2nd in the D line thru the draft. That makes 4 2nd rounders and a 3rd and 1st rounder. That's 6 drafted Dlinemen!!!!  If these 2 don't pan out, Ballard needs to be held accountable. They r picking based on the traits he covets in Dlinmen. My brother inlaw is a Titan fan and he wanted Paye.

Basham was drafted for a different scheme.   But you knew that 

 

Lewis is the forecasted starter since Houston and Autry are gone.   But you know that too.  
 

Turay has been badly hurt for the better part of two years.   And you know that as well. 
 

Fo you have any other falsehoods or half-truths to spread?   Really looking forward to that!    

Still laughing!     

 

[coming on strong]

maybe AC is coming out of retirement to finish his last year of the contract . i heard he is meeting with jimmy from the colts tomorrow

[Moosejawcolt]

18 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

Basham was drafted for a different scheme.   But you knew that 

 

Lewis is the forecasted starter since Houston and Autry are gone.   But you know that too.  
 

Turay has been badly hurt for the better part of two years.   And you know that as well. 
 

Fo you have any other falsehoods or half-truths to spread?   Really looking forward to that!    

Still laughing!     

 

Basham was drafted for a different scheme. Correct. He did nothing in the previous scheme

 

Turay has been injured. Correct. He was also injured in college. 

 

Lewis was drafted to play DT and he  played Dend in college. It has worked out so well he was moved back to D end where he cannot secure a starting position. 

 

Banagou. Well enuff said.

[GoColts8818]

23 minutes ago, coming on strong said:

maybe AC is coming out of retirement to finish his last year of the contract . i heard he is meeting with jimmy from the colts tomorrow

Lol him and Andrew from the book club right?

[Bravo]

Just hard to say this team is better than last years roster right now. We will see come the beginning of the season.

 

LT is by FAR the biggest need right now. Interesting to see what happens. Can not expect big Q to carry the left side of the line. We all saw what happened when Clark and Green got put at LT.

 

Also surprised they didn’t fill Walkers position with anyone in FA or the draft. Leonard and Okereke miss some games every year. LB is probably the 2nd biggest need.

 

This team has a ton of holes. Atleast they attacked the pass rush.

 

Would be nice to see the Colts be on top of the AFC South again. Hoping for the best, expecting the worst.

[BigO]

Not really pleased with this draft except for Paye. Hope I am wrong but it really seemed to have a lot of reaches. I think when a lot of the good left tackles went in the second right before our pick really screwed our plan. Did not like picking a player in the 2nd round recovering from a serious injury to replace Autry that you could have kept by giving him a little more money and keeping him from a rival. I hope I am   wrong but I feel this will turn out to be Ballard's worst draft so far.

[TomDiggs]

Let’s remember a few things:

 

1) AC was a very good underrated LT. And with him anchoring the blind side Andrew Luck got destroyed anyhow. This is the NFL. Teams scheme for your weakest link. Even if it was a 1st or 2nd rd rookie that LT spot was going to be the weak link. 
 

2) everyone wants to point out how bad it was w Clark and green there. They were both terrible. Not just terrible starters. But terrible backups at that. We have upgraded the backups and have two former starters in Tevi and Davenport to battle w Holden and possibly someone else. It will be ok. 
 

3) IF we had drafted a LT like Darrisaw and then picked Dayo (which we would have w him the highest rated player at 54) then everyone would be slamming us for not addressing edge or pass rush and only having a guy who is hurt and possibly can’t help right away. 
 

our team is better and deeper than last year other than at LT and possibly QB. If Wentz is even 2018-2019 Wentz and is just not 2020 Wentz then we are solid. He doesn’t even have to be MVP caliber Wentz. 
 

id like to see us sign Fisher or some other vet at LT and let Tevi and Davenport be big depth upgrades rather than one starting. But even if it doesn’t happen we are OK if they are simply not turnstiles like  Clark and Green. And they aren’t. 

[chad72]

1 hour ago, DougDew said:

Other than the big question at LT, I think we improved the roster by quite a bit.  I think our 1st 4 picks are way better than the guys they replaced, and I'm talking about the safety too.  The other three are developmental, but that's what you get that late.

 

BTW, does Tell stick at corner now that we drafted a zone scheme safety?

 

Yep, our floor on offense goes as the QB and LT positions go. Our floor on defense, I expect it to be better than last season. 

 

We will have our hands full with playing the AFC East and NFC West, all which will have good/aggressive defenses, so our O giving us a good floor will be the difference between an 8 win season and a double digit win season, IMO.

 

I don't think the Jaguars will be slouches and the division minus the Texans is as solid as before, IMO. Raiders, Ravens, Bucs are the other 3 games most likely outside the AFC East, NFC West and our division.

 

 

[Hark]

3 minutes ago, TomDiggs said:

2) everyone wants to point out how bad it was w Clark and green there. They were both terrible. Not just terrible starters. But terrible backups at that. We have upgraded the backups and have two former starters in Tevi and Davenport to battle w Holden and possibly someone else. It will be ok. 

This^^^^. Also...why do so many people forget about Holden? I thought he played reasonably well until he got hurt last year.

[chad72]

24 minutes ago, TomDiggs said:

Let’s remember a few things:

 

1) AC was a very good underrated LT. And with him anchoring the blind side Andrew Luck got destroyed anyhow. This is the NFL. Teams scheme for your weakest link. Even if it was a 1st or 2nd rd rookie that LT spot was going to be the weak link. 
 

2) everyone wants to point out how bad it was w Clark and green there. They were both terrible. Not just terrible starters. But terrible backups at that. We have upgraded the backups and have two former starters in Tevi and Davenport to battle w Holden and possibly someone else. It will be ok. 
 

3) IF we had drafted a LT like Darrisaw and then picked Dayo (which we would have w him the highest rated player at 54) then everyone would be slamming us for not addressing edge or pass rush and only having a guy who is hurt and possibly can’t help right away. 
 

our team is better and deeper than last year other than at LT and possibly QB. If Wentz is even 2018-2019 Wentz and is just not 2020 Wentz then we are solid. He doesn’t even have to be MVP caliber Wentz. 
 

id like to see us sign Fisher or some other vet at LT and let Tevi and Davenport be big depth upgrades rather than one starting. But even if it doesn’t happen we are OK if they are simply not turnstiles like  Clark and Green. And they aren’t. 

 

I disagree there. I felt that the floor on offense with a good underrated LT and very good QB in Rivers was what gave us a decent offensive floor, making the difference of 4 games between JB and Rivers in the record, despite pass rush underwhelming and Jekyll and Hyde defensive performances across halves. If we had gotten Darrisaw and gotten Dayo, we would have been happy there was a vision for the LT long term right away after the draft while augmenting pass rush with Dayo while giving one last shot for the Turay, Lewis and Banogu crew to step up their game on the pass rush front. It is like we took a few steps backwards on the offensive front while taking a few steps forward on the defensive front.

 

If history should tell us anything as Colts fans used to QBs carrying them, it is more likely for a good to very good QB and offense to carry the burden than the defense to show up every single game and make up for the offense, and the D will wear out eventually if the TOP gets lop sided. A lot is riding on the Wentz bet paying off and the play calling protecting Wentz and any deficiencies at the LT position. However, based on games that Castanzo missed, when extra help was not provided by the coaches in a puzzling manner, it sure makes me very very nervous. A LOT is riding on the back up OTs right now.

 

[chad72]

37 minutes ago, bravo4460 said:

Just hard to say this team is better than last years roster right now. We will see come the beginning of the season.

 

LT is by FAR the biggest need right now. Interesting to see what happens. Can not expect big Q to carry the left side of the line. We all saw what happened when Clark and Green got put at LT.

 

Also surprised they didn’t fill Walkers position with anyone in FA or the draft. Leonard and Okereke miss some games every year. LB is probably the 2nd biggest need.

 

This team has a ton of holes. Atleast they attacked the pass rush.

 

Would be nice to see the Colts be on top of the AFC South again. Hoping for the best, expecting the worst.

 

The biggest fans of Colts losing games would be Eagles fans, I can bet. Maybe this would be another re-set year with 7 or 8 wins instead of a playoff year, who knows?? We will see where the roster stands before game 1 starts. 

[JediXMan]

This gif describes my feelings for this draft I’m in the middle.

 

[GoColts8818]

9 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

The biggest fans of Colts losing games would be Eagles fans, I can bet. Maybe this would be another re-set year with 7 or 8 wins instead of a playoff year, who knows?? We will see where the roster stands before game 1 starts. 

Wait!!! I figured it out!  The Colts are going to “red shirt” Wentz for the year that’s why they took the QB in the 6th round and the injured guy!  That way the Colts keep their first next year and are in position to draft the best OT in the draft.  Very clever Ballard...

 

For the record that was said with heavy sarcasm 

[Zoltan]

56 minutes ago, BigO said:

Not really pleased with this draft except for Paye. Hope I am wrong but it really seemed to have a lot of reaches. I think when a lot of the good left tackles went in the second right before our pick really screwed our plan. Did not like picking a player in the 2nd round recovering from a serious injury to replace Autry that you could have kept by giving him a little more money and keeping him from a rival. I hope I am   wrong but I feel this will turn out to be Ballard's worst draft so far.

Idk if we reached I was listening to some interviews and they had Paye as their number 1 target and Dayo as their number 3 target

[CR91]

[coming on strong]

1 hour ago, Zoltan said:

Idk if we reached I was listening to some interviews and they had Paye as their number 1 target and Dayo as their number 3 target

yea it seems like dayo was plan B for the second round someone took what ever tackle they were targeting and once that happened there were no tackles with a second round grade left .  i rather get the third rated guy on the board then reach for a 3rd or 4th round tackle just to fill a need .

[richard pallo]

5 minutes ago, coming on strong said:

yea it seems like dayo was plan B for the second round someone took what ever tackle they were targeting and once that happened there were no tackles with a second round grade left .  i rather get the third rated guy on the board then reach for a 3rd or 4th round tackle just to fill a need .

100% agree.  I would bet the last tackle they were targeting was picked just before our pick.  Once that happened our pick went in almost immediately.  They went right to their board.  No hesitation.

[chad72]

41 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

100% agree.  I would bet the last tackle they were targeting was picked just before our pick.  Once that happened our pick went in almost immediately.  They went right to their board.  No hesitation.

 

Just like with Jonathan Taylor, a lot of us were anticipating a trade up in Round 2 to get one of the few OTs that we liked on the board. Not sure if it was a gamble they cornered themselves into with limited picks and no 3rd round pick but I would not have minded moving up from their current 2nd giving up a 4th and future 4th to move up 10 spots with one of the teams like the Cowboys that had multiple 3rd rounders. 

 

If they did gamble, they obviously lost the gamble if Dillon Radunz was indeed one of their targets. Moving to No.44 with the Cowboys would have made Walker Little, Sam Cosmi and Dillon Radunz available to us. So, a move of at least 10 spots would have given them options.

[NewColtsFan]

3 hours ago, Moosejawcolt said:

Basham was drafted for a different scheme. Correct. He did nothing in the previous scheme

 

Turay has been injured. Correct. He was also injured in college. 

 

Lewis was drafted to play DT and he  played Dend in college. It has worked out so well he was moved back to D end where he cannot secure a starting position. 

 

Banagou. Well enuff said.

More half truths and falsehoods.   You never run out of them.    And you wonder why people don’t respond well to you, when you know the real reasons... 

[Moosejawcolt]

39 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

More half truths and falsehoods.   You never run out of them.    And you wonder why people don’t respond well to you, when you know the real reasons... 

Ballard told us in this draft what he personally thinks of his own drafting regarding Dlinemen. He drafted 2 early Dlinemen because he  has not done well in the past. I compliment Ballard for doing  that.  He is able to put his ego aside and basically admit his mistakes. Bellichek drafted 2 tight ends last year. He signed 2 free agent tight ends this year. He made a mistake but moves on. A mark of a great decision maker. Admit your mistake and move on.

[NewColtsFan]

2 hours ago, Moosejawcolt said:

Ballard told us in this draft what he personally thinks of his own drafting regarding Dlinemen. He drafted 2 early Dlinemen because he  has not done well in the past. I compliment Ballard for doing  that.  He is able to put his ego aside and basically admit his mistakes. Bellichek drafted 2 tight ends last year. He signed 2 free agent tight ends this year. He made a mistake but moves on. A mark of a great decision maker. Admit your mistake and move on.

 

Thanks for a reasonable answer....

 

Yes....   it's the responsible thing to do.   Even if Lewis and Turay and Banogu all improve this year,  the future is Paye and Dayo.    They will likely be the starters, hopefully for many years to come.    But that won't change Ballard's big picture approach.    To have 8-10 D-Lineman and to try and give the starters enough rest with quality back-ups so the starters can be ready in the decisive moments of any game,  especially the 4th quarter.    So this is an important year for all the young D-Lineman.    They need to show improvement,  whether they want their future to be in Indy,  or with another NFL team.  It's time for everyone to get better.

 

 

 

[Zoltan]

12 hours ago, chad72 said:

 

Just like with Jonathan Taylor, a lot of us were anticipating a trade up in Round 2 to get one of the few OTs that we liked on the board. Not sure if it was a gamble they cornered themselves into with limited picks and no 3rd round pick but I would not have minded moving up from their current 2nd giving up a 4th and future 4th to move up 10 spots with one of the teams like the Cowboys that had multiple 3rd rounders. 

 

If they did gamble, they obviously lost the gamble if Dillon Radunz was indeed one of their targets. Moving to No.44 with the Cowboys would have made Walker Little, Sam Cosmi and Dillon Radunz available to us. So, a move of at least 10 spots would have given them options.

 

To trade up you have to have extra picks and we were very limited in that area, just looking at what trades there were going on around our pick to move up it seems it would of taken at least a 4th to move up 2-3 spots, and to get Cosmi it would of been 4 spots, to get Little it would of been 10 spots. We just didn't have the ammo to move up like other teams that had extra comp picks.

[chad72]

1 hour ago, Zoltan said:

 

To trade up you have to have extra picks and we were very limited in that area, just looking at what trades there were going on around our pick to move up it seems it would of taken at least a 4th to move up 2-3 spots, and to get Cosmi it would of been 4 spots, to get Little it would of been 10 spots. We just didn't have the ammo to move up like other teams that had extra comp picks.

 

True. That is why I said a future 4th along with our current 4th as well to move up maybe 8 spots at best, 6 spots at worst, if you believed the guy could make a difference. Obviously, they did not feel that the guy's ability was significant enough to move up and stood pat. 

[Zoltan]

So even though it was said that teams are holding next year picks as gold you want to trade away future picks for a player that has major question marks?

[chad72]

7 minutes ago, Zoltan said:

So even though it was said that teams are holding next year picks as gold you want to trade away future picks for a player that has major question marks?

 

The answer is yes if you believe in the player well enough for a future LT, who is the 2nd most important position after QB, IMO. If the QB is worth a future 1st and a current 3rd, a future LT is EASILY worth a current 4th AND future 4th with a swap of 2nd round picks.

 

They obviously did not believe any available OT bad enough. That is why they stood pat. Besides, every player will have question marks, including Paye and the picks that were made. The draft is just that, an inexact science.