Passing on a LT in the draft

[krunk]

Our regular line with all the starters wasnt blocking well during preseason before covid. You may be judging too early. I think Fisher will be fine and i trust they thought their options through. As someone mentioned before the Achilles is not as hard to come back from anymore.

[craigerb]

9 hours ago, shasta519 said:

If Q and Fisher are out for a few weeks, I think you might see Ehlinger at some point.

If so, let's hope Ehlinger can block better than Tebow.

[ColtV]

12 hours ago, bluephantom87 said:

Let me start by saying that the poor showing by all who attempted to fill in at the LT position against the Panthers only mirrored what has been shown in training camp thus far. To put all your faith on a vet player coming off an Achilles tear in the hopes that he returns to all pro form is one thing but to add subpar, cheap FA bodies to "fill in" at such a critical position is another. Especially considering Carson's injury history and the duress in which he played under the last few years behind a porous o-line in Philly.

 

Don't get me wrong Indy has one of the best o-lines in football BUT is missing one of the most important pieces in the LT position which protects the qb's blindside. In a draft DEEP with LTs by all accounts on team in need, it was a head scratcher to most nfl gurus that the Colts did not address the issue in the early rounds. The gamble at LT could work out but the early returns has yielded major concerns.

I was all about going tackle at 21, and was quite vocal on draft night when it didn't happen. But we're 4 months past the draft and yet to see how this works out in a real nfl game. If the team gives up 5 sacks in week 1, let's revisit.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

1 hour ago, krunk said:

Our regular line with all the starters wasnt blocking well during preseason before covid. You may be judging too early. I think Fisher will be fine and i trust they thought their options through. As someone mentioned before the Achilles is not as hard to come back from anymore.

Will Caroll mentioned on the radio this morning the techniques to fix this injury are getting better and better and it won’t be long until it is down to 4 month recovery. Now it’s 5-9 months.

[NewColtsFan]

23 minutes ago, ColtV said:

I was all about going tackle at 21, and was quite vocal on draft night when it didn't happen. But we're 4 months past the draft and yet to see how this works out in a real nfl game. If the team gives up 5 sacks in week 1, let's revisit.

I’d respectfully say these decisions aren’t about one game.   They’re about a season and beyond.    If we don’t have Fisher, we might give up 5 sacks week one.   But that likely changes whenever he comes back.   It’s a marathon, not a sprint.   And I’m curious how this will work if we have to go without Fisher.   Reich’s game planning will be fascinating to watch play out. 

[Captain_Colts1317]

I’m sure we will be able to get a nice LT prospect with the last pick in the second round next year..

[ColtV]

2 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

I’d respectfully say these decisions aren’t about one game.   They’re about a season and beyond.    If we don’t have Fisher, we might give up 5 sacks week one.   But that likely changes whenever he comes back.   

True, but I specifically used game 1 as an example of when concerns, if applicable, become valid. I'm not going to get too caught up until that time about how the line is performing. 

[bluephantom87]

4 hours ago, krunk said:

Our regular line with all the starters wasnt blocking well during preseason before covid. You may be judging too early. I think Fisher will be fine and i trust they thought their options through. As someone mentioned before the Achilles is not as hard to come back from anymore.

 

I hope you're right krunk... 

[chrisbeldridge]

15 hours ago, NorthernColt said:

I think at this point, I'd rather go Nelson at LT and use Reed at LG, until Fisher is back, not a long term thing. I think the line would be much better instead of trying to shoehorn one of these subpar guys in there.

I agree.  This is the route we should go until Fisher returns.

[krunk]

All these guys who are playing LT for us until Fisher gets back are backup level. It wouldnt shock me if we found at least one back up level guy thats better than what we have when cuts are made. They have this knack for finding guys who fit when necessary. We found Glowinski that way. And i remember that guy Person i think it was that Ballard pulled off the scrap heap to play center for us when chuck was here. He did a real nice job too! And then there was Veldheer they brought out of retirement to play LT during the playoffs. They get it figured out somehow. Im not worried.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

The LT everyone wanted are actually off to rough starts. Jenkins is having back surgery and the one we could of taken instead of lay has a groin injury.

[r a y s k i]

Even if we struggle this year at the left tackle position, I'm happy with how Ballard made decisions this past draft. No LT was worth taking where we were imo. 

[Myles]

36 minutes ago, rayski said:

Even if we struggle this year at the left tackle position, I'm happy with how Ballard made decisions this past draft. No LT was worth taking where we were imo. 

I agree.   Getting Paye where we did was fantastic.  We needed LT and DE at the time of the draft.   

[TimetobringDfence!]

Let's shake this injury bug and go into the playoffs healthy and on a roll.

[NewColtsFan]

On 8/17/2021 at 4:59 AM, bluephantom87 said:

Let me start by saying that the poor showing by all who attempted to fill in at the LT position against the Panthers only mirrored what has been shown in training camp thus far. To put all your faith on a vet player coming off an Achilles tear in the hopes that he returns to all pro form is one thing but to add subpar, cheap FA bodies to "fill in" at such a critical position is another. Especially considering Carson's injury history and the duress in which he played under the last few years behind a porous o-line in Philly.

 

Don't get me wrong Indy has one of the best o-lines in football BUT is missing one of the most important pieces in the LT position which protects the qb's blindside. In a draft DEEP with LTs by all accounts on team in need, it was a head scratcher to most nfl gurus that the Colts did not address the issue in the early rounds. The gamble at LT could work out but the early returns has yielded major concerns.

 

Just to make sure we're on the same page....

 

You understand that it wasn't the plan to pass on taking a LT.    The team liked Darrisaw, and had Paye not been there, likely would've taken Darrisaw with the 21st pick.    But Paye was much higher on the Colts board and it wasn't a close decision over who to pick.

 

Second round,  same...    there were 2nd round LT's that I believe they might've considered had they been there at pick 54,  but they were drafted ahead of them.    Dayo was also highly rated.    In consideration in the first round had Paye and Darrisaw both not been there.

 

As it turns out,  while this was a good class for tackles,  it was NOT a good class for Left Tackles.   Most are playing the right side, or are not starting,  or are hurt.     The Colts believe they've done well for themselves with their first two picks.

 

[PrincetonTiger]

On 8/17/2021 at 8:22 PM, NewColtsFan said:

I’d respectfully say these decisions aren’t about one game.   They’re about a season and beyond.    If we don’t have Fisher, we might give up 5 sacks week one.   But that likely changes whenever he comes back.   It’s a marathon, not a sprint.   And I’m curious how this will work if we have to go without Fisher.   Reich’s game planning will be fascinating to watch play out. 

[holeymoley99]

I wanted Charles Leno of the Bears who is off to a great start in Wash by all accounts BUT if Fisher is back opening day or even by game 4, may turn out to be the better route. We shall see

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

 

[jimmy g]

1 hour ago, Wentzszn said:

 

The Philadelphia Inquirer said he is often injured, needs more strength, can't handle a Bull Rush, can't Run Block, and was a disaster for a half at Right Tackle before being pulled. Right now, he's out with an injured knee and a hand injury.  He entered the season as the #1 Left Tackle, and lost that spot.

[MikeCurtis]

On 8/17/2021 at 7:14 AM, John Hammonds said:

Yup.  Our choices were simple.

 

It was either OT Christian Darrisaw or DE Kwity Paye at pick 21

Or trading up in the 2nd to get OT Samuel Cosmi at 51, instead of DE Dayo Odeyingbo at 54.

Instead, we traded for Fisher, brought in Tevi and Davenport, and crossed our fingers.

 

I hope we chose correctly.

Agreed

 

I get the strong sense that they were chatting with Fisher, and knew that he was at least an very strong option before the draft

 

If Paye were gone, I imagine that they would have gone with Darisaw