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Forum Draft Grade


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Forum Draft Grade  

113 members have voted

  1. 1. How would you grade our 2021 Draft?

    • A
      17
    • B
      41
    • C
      41
    • D
      12
    • E
      1
    • F
      1


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I am pretty much on board with most here. I didn't love it but didn't hate it either. The Paye pick alone gives this draft a C at worse. I loved that pick, he has the potential to be very good or even great. If Dayo and Granson pan out this draft could easily become a B. I don't know much about the other players is my problem as well. I also wanted a LT with our 2nd round pick after we took Paye.

 

For now my final grade is a C+ , not quite in the B range but in the average area. C+ wasn't one of the options so I voted C.

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I'll give this draft a C- honestly.

Loved Paye. As I said, only issue with him was that Darrisaw was on the board, and I'll double down on that assertion now that Ballard never took a LT in the draft.

Still not a fan of Dayo. The torn achilles is a big deal and without a 3rd round pick, this was a pretty big risk and a double down on a position where we already got a really good EDGE in round 1.

I like Granson quite a lot and believe he can start for us right away with a solid training camp and preseason. Very athletic and fast, can produce, and it seemed his catch problems were in one game. Can't wait to see him play!

Hate the Shawn Davis pick. I heard before the draft that Darrick Forest was interviewed by Ballard and him and one other S went right before us in the 5th. This could almost be a reach and panic move to get a S in my opinion. He's also a zone S as well.

I'm up and down on taking Ehlinger here, but it's proper value, and we needed a 3rd QB. I'm ok in the end with it because of the trade back to acquire an extra pick.

Strachan is a fun pick in the top of the 7th. 6'5 225 receiver that can run a 4'4 and from a smaller school? I'll take that here. Lets see if he can become the 5th receiver for us.

I'm honestly fine with Fries here. Pretty good depth Guard that will probably make the team honestly. Just wanted more from the O-Line category and probably a LT at some point in the draft.

 

I thought the UDFAs were good as well. The WRs and LBers will have some competition so it should get interesting. 

 

The reason I gave it a C- was 1.) The Dayo pick, 2.) Shawn Davis, 3.) I thought Ballard completely leaned on athletes instead of football players besides Paye and sometimes he's just being too risky. Finally 4.) We didn't fix the LT position. Ehlinger was also borderline as well as only one extra pick in the top of the 7th.

 

I'm intruiged but not really excited if that makes sense as I think all these guys can be considered projects except Paye and that's not what I want from an entire draft.

 

This is from another thread.

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Just now, Jared Cisneros said:

I'll give this draft a C- honestly.

Loved Paye. As I said, only issue with him was that Darrisaw was on the board, and I'll double down on that assertion now that Ballard never took a LT in the draft.

Still not a fan of Dayo. The torn achilles is a big deal and without a 3rd round pick, this was a pretty big risk and a double down on a position where we already got a really good EDGE in round 1.

I like Granson quite a lot and believe he can start for us right away with a solid training camp and preseason. Very athletic and fast, can produce, and it seemed his catch problems were in one game. Can't wait to see him play!

Hate the Shawn Davis pick. I heard before the draft that Darrick Forest was interviewed by Ballard and him and one other S went right before us in the 5th. This could almost be a reach and panic move to get a S in my opinion. He's also a zone S as well.

I'm up and down on taking Ehlinger here, but it's proper value, and we needed a 3rd QB. I'm ok in the end with it because of the trade back to acquire an extra pick.

Strachan is a fun pick in the top of the 7th. 6'5 225 receiver that can run a 4'4 and from a smaller school? I'll take that here. Lets see if he can become the 5th receiver for us.

I'm honestly fine with Fries here. Pretty good depth Guard that will probably make the team honestly. Just wanted more from the O-Line category and probably a LT at some point in the draft.

 

I thought the UDFAs were good as well. The WRs and LBers will have some competition so it should get interesting. 

 

The reason I gave it a C- was 1.) The Dayo pick, 2.) Shawn Davis, 3.) I thought Ballard completely leaned on athletes instead of football players besides Paye and sometimes he's just being too risky. Finally 4.) We didn't fix the LT position. Ehlinger was also borderline as well as only one extra pick in the top of the 7th.

 

I'm intruiged but not really excited if that makes sense as I think all these guys can be considered projects except Paye and that's not what I want from an entire draft.

 

This is from another thread.

I went C+, see above. A tad higher than you but not much.

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After observing this forum for over a decade, here are things I've seen ( we shall call them axioms).

 

1. If players aren't picked in either rounds 1 or 2, people have a hard time accepting them or believe in their potential.

2. If the a position of perceived need was not taken care of in axiom 1, then the draft was already average at best

3. If it's a player they really love but was taken outside of axiom 1, then axiom 1 no longer applies

4. Players current performance and ability are always the defining factor, no future coaching or improvement is ever factored into the player

5. If a player doesn't perform at Pro Bowl level by year 2, buuuuusssttt, next

 

There are more axioms that I could come up with but I always love to see the player grow and become something special. If they only become just a solid contributor, then cool, I would love to have a huge amount of those on the team as well. We have to remember that sometimes draft pundits call a successful draft if the team hits on like only 2 players. If the team hits home runs on Paye and Dayo, will everyone be sad that the others didn't pan out?

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I’m a go B , because pass rush is the only way to beat good QB and the AFC is stacked with them , signing a pass rusher on FA is not feasible with the price they come at but you can find a quality Tackle that is slight above average maybe a little long in the tooth as a stop gap for a better price , and the draft is not always about this year it’s a  now & later process of thinking 

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Just now, CoachLite said:

Focusing only on the draft, and not the Wentz trade, I gave it a C (actually C+). I may be too harsh because several players my perform very well. I guess we'll see.

Although I wanted a LT, we still may sign one like Fisher or Villanueva which will help the cause. That is one thing nobody is factoring in, we basically got Wentz with a 3rd round pick this season. I went C+ by the way as well.

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I give the draft a C -- for now.

 

Yes, I love the Kwity Paye pick.  And yes, I understand that pick 3 = Carson Wentz.

But we never addressed LT.  Not once.  Not ever.  Not even as a backup.

 

If the players we picked develop into what they hope they do, this could be a successful draft.

 

Then again, we could wind up hearing those familiar words from Ballard a year from now:  "Yea, that one's on me.  It was my fault.  I should have (fill in the blank)."

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Gave it a C.

 

Like Kwity and I think Granson could become a playmaker (drops though, even a lot of his catches he’s kinda bobbling it).

 

I liked Dayo before the injury but I’m not gonna downplay a comeback from an Achilles just because he’s a Colt. Davis seems fine, a good fit. The QB’s fine, although doesn’t really impact the team in any way.

 

This draft hinges on Kwity becoming a legit pass rush threat, not just an edge setter. 

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17 minutes ago, John Hammonds said:

I give the draft a C -- for now.

 

Yes, I love the Kwity Paye pick.  And yes, I understand that pick 3 = Carson Wentz.

But we never addressed LT.  Not once.  Not ever.  Not even as a backup.

 

If the players we picked develop into what they hope they do, this could be a successful draft.

 

Then again, we could wind up hearing those familiar words from Ballard a year from now:  "Yea, that one's on me.  It was my fault.  I should have (fill in the blank)."

He could have used the Gransen pick to trade up 5 slots and get Cosmi or Radunz, then signed a move TE or traded for Ertz.

 

Would you rather have our crop of LTs and Gransen, or Cosmi/Radunz and Ertz? 

 

Could get the move TE next year when we don't have a 1st, instead of looking for a LT next year without a first. 

 

He may have been playing it too cheap to not give up the pick to move up 5 slots.

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28 minutes ago, DougDew said:

He could have used the Gransen pick to trade up 5 slots and get Cosmi or Radunz, then signed a move TE or traded for Ertz.

 

Would you rather have our crop of LTs and Gransen, or Cosmi/Radunz and Ertz? 

 

Could get the move TE next year when we don't have a 1st, instead of looking for a LT next year without a first. 

 

He may have been playing it too cheap to not give up the pick to move up 5 slots.

Everyone and their brother knew that the Redskins were going to take an OT 3 picks before us after going Jamin Davis in the 1st. The Dillon Radunz pick was unexpected, but I agree, we should of traded up, and we could of done it with our 5th to move ahead of the Skins probably if we made an offer. 

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18 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

and we could of done it with our 5th

No we couldn't of. It would of at least taken our 4th.

 

Go take a look at the packages that were made for those 2nd round picks.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nfl.com/_amp/2021-nfl-draft-trade-tracker-full-details-of-every-move

 

And for those that don't think the draft charts are close run some of these trades through the charts. See what you get. Will always be outliers but pretty close.

 

https://www.drafttek.com/NFL-Trade-Value-Chart.asp

 

Bottom line in a draft where we were already short a day 2 pick with Wentz trade and a condition setting on next years 1st and 2nd, it limited what we could do on moving up in the draft. Not complaining about it, it is just the fact of the situation. Happy to have Wentz and I think he will be worth the package once the dust settles.

 

Ballard already said, if you are going to draft someone that high you have to be sure. He wasn't and losing a 4th round pick while already not having a 3rd round pick was not in the cards.

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I’ll give it a B. I like every one of our draft picks from a talent perspective, but I am left scratching my head at two things. First, I know that OT wasn’t selected until the seventh because things just didn’t shake out that way, but what then is our plan moving forward? Second, why select Sam E.? He’s got amazing character and could develop to be a pretty good backup QB, but he just doesn’t seem to make sense for us when we have Eason. All in all, probably my least-favorite Ballard draft, but I would feel a lot better if we signed a FA LT like Fischer to provide some hope at LT, because I know for sure that Sam Tevi is not the answer

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2 hours ago, DougDew said:

He could have used the Gransen pick to trade up 5 slots and get Cosmi or Radunz, then signed a move TE or traded for Ertz.

 

Would you rather have our crop of LTs and Gransen, or Cosmi/Radunz and Ertz? 

 

Could get the move TE next year when we don't have a 1st, instead of looking for a LT next year without a first. 

 

He may have been playing it too cheap to not give up the pick to move up 5 slots.

 

honestly I don't think we were even targeting Cosmi or Radunz, but even if we were trading up wasn't going to be so easy.

 

If we wanted Cosmi or Radunz we would have traded to at least the 50th pick although you could argue that it would have to be the 49ers/cardinals pick because the giants had Ojulari fall to them. We weren't gonna trade with Washington or the titans because they wanted tackles. The Panthers traded their pick to the Browns and received  a 3rd so we weren't going to outbid them (granted the browns received a 4th also). So the only teams that probably would of traded were the Cardinals at 49th and maybe Giants at 50 but I doubt it and going off the trades we saw I don't know if our 4th would of been enough especially since the team who we are contacting to trade up has all the leverage.

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10 minutes ago, Zoltan said:

 

honestly I don't think we were even targeting Cosmi or Radunz, but even if we were trading up wasn't going to be so easy.

 

If we wanted Cosmi or Radunz we would have traded to at least the 50th pick although you could argue that it would have to be the 49ers/cardinals pick because the giants had Ojulari fall to them. We weren't gonna trade with Washington or the titans because they wanted tackles. The Panthers traded their pick to the Browns and received  a 3rd so we weren't going to outbid them (granted the browns received a 4th also). So the only teams that probably would of traded were the Cardinals at 49th and maybe Giants at 50 but I doubt it and going off the trades we saw I don't know if our 4th would of been enough especially since the team who we are contacting to trade up has all the leverage.

Good points.  Mine was basically a moot point.  I was basing it off of the value chart when reality can lead to different things.  My main thought was that going into day 2 after taking Paye, I knew it was going to be difficult to land a tackle because the teams that needed one did other things in round one. And LVR took Leatherwood early.  Teams were apparently thinking that early round two was the value spot.

 

When everybody on the planet thinks that is the value spot, the team picking 54 had little chance.  We missed our chance with Darrisaw.

 

Still, Ballard passed on Spencer Brown.  He carries risks.

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4 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Good points.  Mine was basically a moot point.  I was basing off of the value chart and following reality can lead to different things.  My main thought was that going into day 2 after taking Paye, I knew it was going to be difficult to land a tackle because the teams that needed one did other things in round one. And LVR took Leatherwood early.  Teams were apparently thinking that early round two was the value spot.

 

When everybody on the planet thinks that is the value spot, the team picking 54 had little chance.

 

Still, Ballard passed on Spencer Brown.  He carries risks.

I think when it comes to Spencer Brown everyone was to enamored with his RAS score, he wasn't a second round pick and went where I expected late in the 3rd. It would have been a huge reach in the second because he isn't ready to start day 1. If we had a 3rd I'm sure we would have drafted him.

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4 hours ago, w87r said:

I will give the draft a B.

 

I really like our first 2 picks. Our DL has every opportunity to be one the the best units in the NFL.

 

Granson I think was a really solid pick, I see him doing good things. His athletic ability is off the charts.

 

Davis, I am a little on the fence about, but I am sure he will be fine and after all he is a 5th round pick. Expectations are not very high.

 

I like the the QB pick, Sam is a tough competitor and I think he will create good competition with Eason. IMO, this was the perfect opportunity to get a 3rd QB. You wouldn't want to draft one any higher, and a veteran wouldn't allow for a proper evaluation of Eason for a 2nd season in a row. Have to find out what we have in him.

 

WR has a lot of potential, great size and athleticism. Not expecting very much out of him for a year or 2.

 

Versatile OL with last pick, what more could you ask for.

 

Can't forget about Carson Wentz being included in the equation. If he comes in and is our QB for next 6-7+ years, it will turn the draft to an A, on acquiring a franchise QB with a 3rd and conditional pick next year.

 

At the end of the day, we came in with a late 1st, late 2nd, no 3rd, late 4th-7th. To be able to get the 2 Edge players we did was pretty impressive. 

 

 

 

As far as a grade for the forum. D- at best, might of failed if I actually delve a little deeper in the individual player threads. Pathetic reactions, expected, but worse than usual. Bunch of posters that think they know more than our front office. Spoiler....you don't. 

 

Like Ballard said, they are not to worried about what outside opinions are. They like what they did.


This a discussion forum. If a person disagrees with a pick...or has a different opinion on a player...it doesn’t mean they think they know more than the FO. 
 

I know appealing to authority is a national past time around here...but prohibited use of this lazy straw man argument should really be part of the forum rules. It is not conducive at all to having actual discourse.

 

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3 hours ago, harrisoncolts88 said:

After observing this forum for over a decade, here are things I've seen ( we shall call them axioms).

 

1. If players aren't picked in either rounds 1 or 2, people have a hard time accepting them or believe in their potential.

2. If the a position of perceived need was not taken care of in axiom 1, then the draft was already average at best

3. If it's a player they really love but was taken outside of axiom 1, then axiom 1 no longer applies

4. Players current performance and ability are always the defining factor, no future coaching or improvement is ever factored into the player

5. If a player doesn't perform at Pro Bowl level by year 2, buuuuusssttt, next

 

There are more axioms that I could come up with but I always love to see the player grow and become something special. If they only become just a solid contributor, then cool, I would love to have a huge amount of those on the team as well. We have to remember that sometimes draft pundits call a successful draft if the team hits on like only 2 players. If the team hits home runs on Paye and Dayo, will everyone be sad that the others didn't pan out?

 

That can be the case for some Debbie Downers but the first 5 are more likely to happen. Polian drafted "supposedly" BPA in Round 1 that had a high level of hits, and gave Dungy and his coaches the players they wanted for their system starting Round 2, at least that was the story that was made public in the media. He did the same with Marv Levy too. When he did that, he was obviously relying on the coaches to develop the players that he gave them, whether he "perceivedly" reached for them or not. :) 

 

Every player needs coaching, and cannot coast on what they came out of college with, we fans seem to forget that. But like Polian, Ballard is reluctant to get into bidding wars in FA but has been far more active than him, getting a good hit rate compared to Grigson who didn't mind dabbling a little more than Polian or Ballard. 

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6 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

That can be the case for some Debbie Downers but the first 5 are more likely to happen. Polian drafted "supposedly" BPA in Round 1 that had a high level of hits, and gave Dungy and his coaches the players they wanted for their system starting Round 2, at least that was the story that was made public in the media. He did the same with Marv Levy too. When he did that, he was obviously relying on the coaches to develop the players that he gave them, whether he "perceivedly" reached for them or not. :) 

 

Every player needs coaching, and cannot coast on what they came out of college with, we fans seem to forget that. But like Polian, Ballard is reluctant to get into bidding wars in FA but has been far more active than him, getting a good hit rate compared to Grigson who didn't mind dabbling a little more than Polian or Ballard. 


Coaching matters...but it takes a long time and a big sample size to prove how much impact it can have on development. And position coaches switch teams a lot. 

We are only heading into year 4 with Reich and Flus. Not very much time. And naturally, there has been mixed results from a developmental standpoint (which all teams have).
 

So we can’t assume that this player or that player is automatically going to get successfully get coached up. We also can’t assume they won’t either. All we can do is judge the talent/fit/risk.

 

So I don’t know if people forget about coaching....it’s just wait and see.

 

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3 minutes ago, shasta519 said:


This a discussion forum. If a person disagrees with a pick...or has a different opinion on a player...it doesn’t mean they think they know more than the FO. 
 

I know appealing to authority is a national past time around here...but prohibited use of this lazy straw man argument should really be part of the forum rules. It is not conducive at all to having actual discourse.

 

Anyone can disagree with anything they want. Do I think there was other players we could of/should of selected?  Of course, does that mean I go around saying off the wall comments and trashing the team? No, it doesn't. I can have respectful conversations about it.

 

Most the times its not what you say, its how you say it.

 

No one is appealing to authority around here and not even sure how that would be relevant to the conversation. Who are we appealing to?

 

 

If you don't think there are post around here made to seem like they know more than the FO, perhaps you should go read some more of them. 

 

There is a difference between someone wanting to have discourse and someone here just to stir up things. Most comments like these lead to personal attacks and inappropriate interactions. 

 

Btw, comments like yours are not very conductive to having actual discourse either. I don't think that was your intentions to begin with though.

 

Lazy straw man argument? Give it a break. 

 

You created a straw man argument out of a "lazy" false straw man argument. Kudos.

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I like the focus at DE because our outside pass rush was poor last year. Paye is a protoypical Colts pick and was good value. Had some of the highest pressure rates in college football last year. Exactly what we needed.

 

Dayo, the injury is a buzzkill, but doubling up at DE is totally fine. Again, it may have been the weakest part of the team last year. I think once we took Paye, we felt comfortable taking Dayo because we could rely on Paye right away and kind of wait for this guy. Had we gone Darrisaw and then Dayo, the pass rush wouldn't have been improved right away. As far as the player goes, he's another good traits defensive end. Who knows how that pans out, we just have to wait and see. If we'd have picked him over Ojulari, I'd have a problem, but there was no obvious better Edge player than him there. Maybe Ronnie Perkins at a push, but Dayo is a better scheme fit, Imo.

 

The tight end, I like his athleticism. He looks like someone who we can be creative with and be a threat after the catch. A good Burton replacement. 

 

Have no real opinion on the safety. Ehlinger will fight to be the backup. That's fine. Strachan at the very least has athletic potential. I know nothing about the Olineman from Penn State. 

 

All in all, I'd give it a B. I think it all makes sense if we sign a solid LT, but it's kind of dependent on that.

 

I also think this draft was made far more difficult by having less draft capital, and next year's won't be easy either. The fact Ballard only traded down in the 6th tells you all you need to know. They couldn't work the draft how they usually do. I'll give them a pass for that.

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17 minutes ago, Les Poulains said:

I also think this draft was made far more difficult by having less draft capital, and next year's won't be easy either. The fact Ballard only traded down in the 6th tells you all you need to know. They couldn't work the draft how they usually do. I'll give them a pass for that.

Solid post, just wanted to touch on this portion.

 

Despite missing out on a 1st or 2nd next year, I don't think it will be as hard to navigate. It's 1 pick with no future picks already gone. If we wanted to trade a 2023 pick to move around we could. Don't think we would, but never know how draft might fall.

 

Just this year with no 3rd and no 2022 1st/ or 2nd we are essentially missing 3 picks when it came to using draft capital. So it really limited our capability to move around.

 

I take ot as a good sign we weren't able to trade down and accumulate more picks early. That means we really got who we wanted and didn't want to risk losing them. We know how much Ballard likes to move back to, so we should take confidence in knowing when he says he got who he wanted, he did.

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31 minutes ago, stitches said:

I haven't watched all the prospects yet so I will refrain from giving a grade for now. I will revisit when done.

I have to admit I know nothing about Davis, the Texas QB we drafted, or Will Fries. Just bits and pieces of highlights I have seen and what Kiper and McShay have said about these players. I knew of Granson and Dayo and those guys are very talented of course. I am hoping Paye turns into a Robert Mathis type player, wishful thinking but he does have very good to great potential.

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I don't judge a draft based on what is brings this season. Draft for the most part is about the future. 

 

Our first pick was a top 20 guy, and the second pick sans injury was a top 20 guy. I think he will heal and be all that....so that means the Colts turned a #21 and a #54 into two top twenty picks. Got a dynamic TE, a S, a QB to push Eason, and a freak athlete WR.

 

A grade. 

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All you can hope for is that these picks pan out and become the players that our staff envision them to become. If that happens, I think our draft class is an A. We took two very talented edge rushers that, along with Buckner, could very well elevate our defense to the next level. An elite DL is to a defense what an elite QB is to an offense. It can really mask any deficiencies we may have at LB or DB over the next few years.

 

On top of that, our 3rd was used as half of the capital to bring in Wentz. We also selected a potential playmaker at TE. Very solid draft.

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5 hours ago, harrisoncolts88 said:

After observing this forum for over a decade, here are things I've seen ( we shall call them axioms).

 

1. If players aren't picked in either rounds 1 or 2, people have a hard time accepting them or believe in their potential.

2. If the a position of perceived need was not taken care of in axiom 1, then the draft was already average at best

3. If it's a player they really love but was taken outside of axiom 1, then axiom 1 no longer applies

4. Players current performance and ability are always the defining factor, no future coaching or improvement is ever factored into the player

5. If a player doesn't perform at Pro Bowl level by year 2, buuuuusssttt, next

 

There are more axioms that I could come up with but I always love to see the player grow and become something special. If they only become just a solid contributor, then cool, I would love to have a huge amount of those on the team as well. We have to remember that sometimes draft pundits call a successful draft if the team hits on like only 2 players. If the team hits home runs on Paye and Dayo, will everyone be sad that the others didn't pan out?

 

Well said. I see this on most sports forums. It seems to be the nature of fandom. 

 

I recall a few years ago, this board loved Andrew Billings. This place would have been ecstatic had the Colts drafted him. Well, he dropped and I am not sure if he is still with the team that drafted him (the Bengals, I believe). On the other hand not everyone (except @Dustin) was high on Grady Jarrett one year and he has turned out to be a top player for the Falcons.  

 

Let's hope the players acquired through the draft and (undrafted) free agency work out. :colts:

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32 minutes ago, NFLfan said:

 

Well said. I see this on most sports forums. It seems to be the nature of fandom. 

 

I recall a few years ago, this board loved Andrew Billings. This place would have been ecstatic had the Colts drafted him. Well, he dropped and I am not sure if he is still with the team that drafted him (the Bengals, I believe). On the other hand not everyone (except @Dustin) was high on Grady Jarrett one year and he has turned out to be a top player for the Falcons.  

 

Let's hope the players acquired through the draft and (undrafted) free agency work out. :colts:

 

That’s fair. I’d also say there have been instances where people were right to question picks (Banogu).

 

I get people take it too far with their criticisms sometimes. And it should go without saying that GM’s and scouts know more than us. Obviously they do. But sometimes they whiff. 

 

That said, having a problem with every pick/every draft gets old. Especially with a GM like Ballard. But there have been picks I just outright disliked from the beginning (Banogu, Rock, Lewis, not that they’re hopeless). Only problem I had with this draft was drafting a guy with an Achilles injury. Even then, I really like the player and hope he can get back to 100% and stay healthy.

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I initially probably would of given them a C. But learning more about the other DE we got and how well this TE should fit right in I will give it a B+. We aren’t use to having so few picks. I think in a couple years the first three picks will proven to have been a upgrade for this team.

 

We went into the offseason with no QB and a weak pass rush. We addressed the QB situation in a big way and from all accounts got two stud DE. We also got the TE Reich has coveted. It was a good draft on the surface. Time will tell how it turns out.

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6 minutes ago, NFLfan said:

 

Well said. I see this on most sports forums. It seems to be the nature of fandom. 

 

I recall a few years ago, this board loved Andrew Billings. This place would have been ecstatic had the Colts drafted him. Well, he dropped and I am not sure if he is still with the team that drafted him (the Bengals, I believe). On the other hand not everyone (except @Dustin) was high on Grady Jarrett one year and he has turned out to be a top player for the Falcons.  

 

Let's hope the players acquired through the draft and (undrafted) free agency work out. :colts:

Several players pan out that get drafted in round 3 or after actually. TY Hilton went in the 3rd, Joe Montana got drafted in the 3rd round, Tom Brady in the 6th round. The 2 QB's I named are top 3 QB's of all-time along with Peyton IMO. One reason why I have always called the draft a crapshoot is because I have seen a lot of players get drafted in the 1st round and be busts. Think of all the QB's that have been busts that went either #1 or #2 in the draft = Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch, JaMarcus Russell, RGIII - very good rookie season then injured, and Jeff George was terrible here! There are many more and according to draft experts before the those drafts these were can't miss guys, possible future Hall of Famers lmao  

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47 minutes ago, Fisticuffs111 said:

 

That’s fair. I’d also say there have been instances where people were right to question picks (Banogu).

 

I get people take take it too far with their criticisms. And it’s not even worth stating that GM’s and scouts know more than us about these guys. Obviously they do. But sometimes they do whiff.

 

Thanks. There is nothing wrong with questioning picks or even showing some emotion in posts, but as mentioned earlier, there is a good way and a bad way to do it. I think most of the comments I have read on this thread are fine. But name calling and using ad hominems are not acceptable and create a bad experience for most of those reading the comments. 

 

Do you see a difference in these two comments?

 

Quote

What is Ballard doing? I really don't like his approach when drafting players. We need a LT to protect Wentz. He could have moved up for Penei Sewell. He is sure to be a Hall of Famer. Let's hope our next pick is an OT. 

 

Quote

I'm done with the Vikings. Rick is clueless and needs to be fired. NOW! He had a chance to get a QBoTF in Fields and Jones and he did not draft one. Forget this team. This team will never win a SB with Rick at GM and Zimbo as head coach. They have no clue.

 

I made these up. Lol. One is very negative and likely to generate a lot of negative comments from fans of the team. 

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3 hours ago, stitches said:

I haven't watched all the prospects yet so I will refrain from giving a grade for now. I will revisit when done.

Sure. Bring reason into the discussion. You've missed the spirit of a fan forum where wild emotion and gut feelings rule the day.

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16 hours ago, w87r said:

I will give the draft a B.

 

I really like our first 2 picks. Our DL has every opportunity to be one the the best units in the NFL.

 

Granson I think was a really solid pick, I see him doing good things. His athletic ability is off the charts.

 

Davis, I am a little on the fence about, but I am sure he will be fine and after all he is a 5th round pick. Expectations are not very high.

 

I like the the QB pick, Sam is a tough competitor and I think he will create good competition with Eason. IMO, this was the perfect opportunity to get a 3rd QB. You wouldn't want to draft one any higher, and a veteran wouldn't allow for a proper evaluation of Eason for a 2nd season in a row. Have to find out what we have in him.

 

WR has a lot of potential, great size and athleticism. Not expecting very much out of him for a year or 2.

 

Versatile OL with last pick, what more could you ask for.

 

Can't forget about Carson Wentz being included in the equation. If he comes in and is our QB for next 6-7+ years, it will turn the draft to an A, on acquiring a franchise QB with a 3rd and conditional pick next year.

 

At the end of the day, we came in with a late 1st, late 2nd, no 3rd, late 4th-7th. To be able to get the 2 Edge players we did was pretty impressive. 

 

 

 

As far as a grade for the forum. D- at best, might of failed if I actually delve a little deeper in the individual player threads. Pathetic reactions, expected, but worse than usual. Bunch of posters that think they know more than our front office. Spoiler....you don't. 

 

Like Ballard said, they are not to worried about what outside opinions are. They like what they did.

 

Honestly, I haven't seen all that many 'pathetic reactions'. Threads have been created asking for everyone's opinion on the draft and the forum has responded pretty rationally. 

 

Anyway, appreciate the reasoning behind each pick you gave, I posted on one of the other 'Grade the Draft threads' the following:

 

C-

Paye was a good pick, Dayo was a confusing one although loads of Tackles were taken off the board right before so I'm not mad that we didnt select one just to fill the need although I do think we could've traded back or picked someone else in a different position before getting Dayo. Didn't have a clue about Granson but his tape seems somewhat intriguing - not exactly a sure thing though to say the least. Davis will just be a depth guy I guess, Ehlinger was a surprising pick but allows for some good QB2 competition. The other 2 probably wont make the active roster..

 

For me the only thing that gets me excited about the draft is of course that our pass rush was addressed and I have high hopes for both of them to make a big impact.

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16 hours ago, DougDew said:

As of one day after the draft, here's mine (all subject to change tomorrow and beyond). 

 

Overall:  B (one of the lowest grades of Ballard's tenure for me)

 

Paye:  B........Nice player, great person, but given the alternatives of Darrisaw or a trade down, Paye would have been my third choice here

 

Dayo:  B+....I liked him early in the process, then forgot about him after the injury.  Great fit and a high floor, IMO, but the injury keeps this from being and A.  But, I'd rather take a guy who is complete but needs recovery time, than an athlete who is a project.  See Blackmon vs. Lewis, Turay, and Benagu.

 

Gransen:  B.....Fills a need.  Looks athletic.  At only 6'1", might lose some battles with LBs and SSs.  Hope he has consistent hands.

 

Davis:   A....My favorite pick.  Sounds like a single high safety for our zone scheme, and surely a target of Ballard's.  Round 5 is a good value.  From draftnetwork:   Shawn Davis is a rangy, scheme-versatile safety that’s shown to have value as both a single- and two-high safety. Although he’s shown the capability of being a true single-high type of safety, he wasn't allowed to play much of it in 2019. A quick-twitched option that covers a lot of ground during ball pursuit, he can flat-out run when given free paths to the ball. Prior to his sophomore year, Davis spent a lot of time on special teams, which will expand his draft stock because of the multitude of areas that he possibly could come in and provide value. A fluid mover, Davis’ smarts and awareness show up often no matter the coverage at hand. 

 

Ehlinger:  B....4 year starter with leadership, toughness, and High football IQ.  Might be a role model for Eason in those aspects.  At only 6'1.5, he's going to struggle to be thought of as a developmental player or much of a backup, but the rosters are expanding to 57.  He's athletic and could learn to be used in gadget roles.

 

Strachan:  A......Tall and athletic. Pure developmental.  A grades this low have little weighting towards the overall grade.

 

Fries: A.....Nice swing G/T.  At LT, played well against some of the bigger named edges in the Big 10

I also gave a B grade.

 

I agree that Davis was a fantastic pick at 5.

I wasn't sold on the Ehlinger pick, but at the same time, who else are you really going to get that late that will make a difference? The pick made a fair amount of sense, but I might have gone with a cheap vet for a year. Then again, Wentz is so damn smart that might not do any good at this point in his career. It's not like Ballard pulled a Caserio there and took Mills in the 3rd round. LOL. It pretty much affirms that Wentz is the man going forward unless something horrible happens. Also, at worst, you'll have another option for a stop gap should something go wrong.

 

Also, I have been champing for Paye this entire offseason. The kid is a football player. A football player, all around through and through. His character is unassailable. He would be someone I would want to wear black and gold. Perfect scheme fit for Eberflus, smart, humble. Just needs to focus on doing one thing. I think he's in good company in Indy and will flourish in this culture.

 

I also do like the Dayo pick given the way the cards fell in rounds 1 and 2. If he's healthy, that's a scary front 7 the Colts are building. I was a little iffy on it at first but at second glance, it's not everyday you get a shot at 2 1st round talents at edge in one draft.

 

They will figure out the thing at LT. Steelers fans had some of the same worries but with backs like JT and Najee, you can scheme around outside pressure much easier than you can deal with issues on the interior. All around a solid draft by the Colts.

 

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I don’t believe in grades until guys play.  To me it’s like teachers going down their roster the day they get it and going okay they get an A, that’s a B oh wow D here etc.  How can you do it with no results to assign a grade off of?  That’s just me though, anyone who wishes to assign a grade please do so.

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9 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

I don’t believe in grades until guys play.  To me it’s like teachers going down their roster the day they get it and going okay they get an A, that’s a B oh wow D here etc.  How can you do it with no results to assign a grade off of?  That’s just me though, anyone who wishes to assign a grade please do so.

Yeah there is that too, but to me giving a grade is more about how a team just navigates the draft because every team has busts and hidden gems and walk off home runs from time to time. Nothing is 100% It's more about just kind of giving them credit or demerit for doing the best they can for what they had to work with.

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