Anyone hear any buzz on Zaire Franklin?

[Lawrence Owen]

On 5/29/2021 at 4:14 PM, EastStreet said:

 

Just spoke to a bud back in Indy, and he said he's heard some buzz on the local radio stations that Franklin was getting a lot of time during OTAs. Speed too, but not as much as Franklin. Whoever it was on the radio I guess said Franklin was easily the 3rd LB, probably the MIKE when we go three LBs, and might be competing for starting MIKE (at least vs run heavy teams). Back to a time share at MIKE similar to Walker/Oke?

 

If true, not sure how I feel about it. I certainly am concerned with Oke being an every down LBer, but was hoping Speed might make some noise. Sounds like Franklin might be making more.. I do recall Franklin had a high RAS, and was also multi year team captain in college (team captain last year too). 

 

Huh... 

 

Anyone hear anything locally?

Eberflus told me yesterday that Okereke will be holding the Mike Linebacker duties down full time.  He said it was one reason Walker left, so Okereke could fill in 100% there, and get fully antiquated, and get a better feel for the position, and play faster.  Perhaps Franklin will be the Sam?

[EastStreet]

8 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

Eberflus told me yesterday that Okereke will be holding the Mike Linebacker duties down full time.  He said it was one reason Walker left, so Okereke could fill in 100% there, and get fully antiquated, and get a better feel for the position, and play faster.  Perhaps Franklin will be the Sam?

Hope it works out. 

 

I think most assumed the initial plan would be that Oke would be full time MIKE and Franklin SAM. If things don't go perfectly though, wouldn't be shocked to see them go back to a timeshare situation.

 

If I'm being honest though, I think I'm more worried about LB than any other unit on D.

[Lawrence Owen]

1 minute ago, EastStreet said:

Hope it works out. 

 

I think most assumed the initial plan would be that Oke would be full time MIKE and Franklin SAM. If things don't go perfectly though, wouldn't be shocked to see them go back to a timeshare situation.

 

If I'm being honest though, I think I'm more worried about LB than any other unit on D.

I am still more worried about the DE's. We have 0 proven pass rushers.  Great players, with upside and promise, but no-one has proven themselves yet.

[DaColts85]

22 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

I am still more worried about the DE's. We have 0 proven pass rushers.  Great players, with upside and promise, but no-one has proven themselves yet.

I completely agree with you on the pass rush but my concern is the all around pass coverage. Young Safeties being in the right places and corners stepping up. This factors in a pass rush that is desperately needed for our zone based coverage. I am hoping Rhodes can play to the same level but the other side has me worried. We too often allow mediocre QB’s look great against us. 

[Lawrence Owen]

6 minutes ago, DaColts85 said:

I completely agree with you on the pass rush but my concern is the all around pass coverage. Young Safeties being in the right places and corners stepping up. This factors in a pass rush that is desperately needed for our zone based coverage. I am hoping Rhodes can play to the same level but the other side has me worried. We too often allow mediocre QB’s look great against us. 

Yeah, is why I asked Eberflus about bringing in everyone from last year. Most of the DB's are either very young, or only had 1 year in the scheme (Carrie/Rhodes) He said another year of familiarity with the scheme, and each other will help a lot.

[EastStreet]

17 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

I am still more worried about the DE's. We have 0 proven pass rushers.  Great players, with upside and promise, but no-one has proven themselves yet.

I'm pretty confident in Paye, so not all that worried. I think Lewis will be pretty close to Autry's level.

 

Overall, with our conservative scheme, I just don't think the DL will be much different. Maybe some bumps early. 

[Lawrence Owen]

1 minute ago, EastStreet said:

I'm pretty confident in Paye, so not all that worried. I think Lewis will be pretty close to Autry's level.

 

Overall, with our conservative scheme, I just don't think the DL will be much different. Maybe some bumps early. 

Yeah, the main issue I have with Eberflus is that he doesn't blitz...hardly ever(I think 2nd least in the NFL last year?). And in a zone scheme, you NEED the QB pressure to get errant passes and turnovers.

[EastStreet]

8 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

Yeah, the main issue I have with Eberflus is that he doesn't blitz...hardly ever(I think 2nd least in the NFL last year?). And in a zone scheme, you NEED the QB pressure to get errant passes and turnovers.

Yup. Way too conservative. I don't want to be uber aggressive, just a little more balanced.

Perhaps Paye and Dayo when healthy will change things.

[Mackrel829]

8 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

I’m not in the camp that they will all have massive seasons.   But I think all are capable of improvement.  Perhaps significant improvement. 
 

And you know who else thinks so?   Chris Ballard and his staff.   
 

We let Walker leave to give more opportunity to Oke. 
 

We’re running back the same CB crew with no real changes. 
 

We let Houston and Autry walk out the door.  Lewis is the apparent front runner at LDE and Turay we expect to be healthy enough to get more productive snaps. 
 

The actions of the front office says they believe there will be improvement with the players you mentioned.   How much improvement is the question? 
 

 

 

I'm pretty much where you're at. I was very worried about the D-Line but that's abated somewhat now. Lewis took a significant step forward last season, we all know what Turay is capable of when healthy, and Paye should be able to contribute immediately in a rotational capacity. Buckner and Stewart up the middle will do a lot to help the guys in the edge too. I think we'll be fine there, if not spectacular.

 

I'm big on Okereke, too. I think he and Leonard are a fantastic pair. Neither have been consistently good in coverage yet, but they've both shown flashes, and it should be within their capabilities to continue to develop in that regard.

 

To bet on all four guys to have 'massive' seasons is silly though. I see that kind of attitude here pretty often. Incremental improvement isn't under-valued by the organisation, and we shouldn't under-value it either. The likelihood that all four players have breakout seasons isn't high, but that doesn't mean they can't all get better and contribute to winning football.