Khari Willis is retiring

[Scott Pennock]

Watch for Weatherford to get slid back to SS from LB for depth purposes......

 

Blackmon, McLeod and Cross will be a solid rotation

[MikeCurtis]

I wish him well!

 

My dad made a very similar decision in life with a very well paid job to go into ministry

 

 

It takes guts and courage to follow your convictions

6 minutes ago, Scott Pennock said:

Watch for Weatherford to get slid back to SS from LB for depth purposes......

 

Blackmon, McLeod and Cross will be a solid rotation

I have a hunch that you will see Cross on an all rookie team this next year..... the kid has some talent

[cdgacoltsfan]

13 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

We will likely never know the answer to this question….   And while I’m not a betting man, I’d bet good money the organization was NOT blindsided.   At all.   The fans were, no doubt, 100 percent.   But the organization?   I seriously doubt it. 

Even though it isn't vogue nowadays...you're entitled to your opinion as I am to mine.

 

13 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

We will likely never know the answer to this question….   And while I’m not a betting man, I’d bet good money the organization was NOT blindsided.   At all.   The fans were, no doubt, 100 percent.   But the organization?   I seriously doubt it.

 

 

[MikeCurtis]

55 minutes ago, Nesjan3 said:

Leonard is next

I hope not, and I would hate it, but many people that lose the love for the game,........ at some point..... end up leaving

 

 

 

 

[jonjon]

Nice timing.

[Moosejawcolt]

2 hours ago, TaylorTheStudMuffin said:

 

Easy fix. Move Blackmon to SS where he belongs. Then hopefully Cross can push for  FS , as that is where he belongs given his traits. Willis might have actually seen the writing on the wall and I always thought this is where the Colts envision Cross and Blackmon to play full time. Cross has the speed to play FS in the D and can hit. Blackmon is a better SS given his nose for the ball. I am hoping Cross can develop his coverage skills as I never thought Blackmon could play FS in this D.

[shasta519]

1 hour ago, NewColtsFan said:

Agreed.   Thanks for saying it. 
 

Personally, I hope we are paying Khari his salary just as we did with Luck.   That would be a classy way to send him off.   

Pay him his base salary when he’s not going to play? 

 

I wish him the best, but he’s not getting $2.5M (or whatever it was) because he decided to become a minister after 3 years in the NFL. Though I could definitely see a donation of some modest amount at some point to his church. 
 

Luck’s money that he kept was the prorated signing bonus amount (which they had paid already) and an option bonus from that year. I doubt he kept his base salary when he didn’t play. 

[shasta519]

4 minutes ago, Moosejawcolt said:

Easy fix. Move Blackmon to SS where he belongs. Then hopefully Cross can push for  FS , as that is where he belongs given his traits. Willis might have actually seen the writing on the wall and I always thought this is where the Colts envision Cross and Blackmon to play full time. Cross has the speed to play FS in the D and can hit. Blackmon is a better SS given his nose for the ball. I am hoping Cross can develop his coverage skills as I never thought Blackmon could play FS in this D.

This does free up Blackmon to move to SS.
 

But I don’t think Cross is a fit at FS due to pass coverage, at least not yet. And I think Cross was drafted to be the SS in Bradley’s scheme. But clearly they had some inkling about Willis, given the that they brought in and worked out so many Ss this offseason.

 

I think the long-term FS for this defense is not on the roster.

[Stephen]

I said in the other topic that he was probably  retiring  and I was right 

[Stephen]

2 hours ago, GoColts8818 said:

Well credit to @Stephen he called it.

It was a gut feeling that turned out to be true

[Nesjan3]

37 minutes ago, MikeCurtis said:

I hope not, and I would hate it, but many people that lose the love for the game,........ at some point..... end up leaving

 

 

 

 

Yep the injuries, seemingly disconnect with the front office about the injuries.  The article about falling out of love with football. He got paid. The revolving door at quarterback he had some tweets about. I wouldn't be surprised. I really hope he recovers and regains his passion and plays on though.

[Stephen]

34 minutes ago, jonjon said:

Nice timing.

Not mad about this as we drafted a safety and signed one in free agency

[TaylorTheStudMuffin]

19 minutes ago, Stephen said:

I said in the other topic that he was probably  retiring  and I was right 

I thought you were just kidding because of all the early retirements and weird things that happen with this team.

[Bolt Colt]

Best of luck young man!

[holeymoley99]

Ive been saying all along Rodney Mc's signing would be one of the biggest and was kinda going under the radar. He was going to start from day 1 regardless and Blackmon is much more a SS as many have said dating back to last season and he seems ahead of schedule to start game 1. Now we have Cross who can play both FS and SS waiting in the wings...very strong top 3. Opens up an avenue for Rodney Thomas,Will Redmond or Tell to see significant time (Watts is a st'er only).

[Four2itus]

Next man up. 

[Dobbinblitz]

All the best to the hard hitting Spartan. Great example of following your convictions.

[AustinnKaine]

3 hours ago, ProblChld32 said:

I thought he was pretty decent, as a matchup on TE’s and Backs out the backfield. I think we will miss his down hill in the box performance. He wasn’t a world beater by any means but Khari was consistent.

Not to be negative but he was awful in coverage, especially when manned up with TEs and Backs. He is a read and react kind of guy that is decent coming down and hitting people and stopping their momentum, other than that, he isn't that good.

 

We were actually last against TEs last year, and towards the bottom every year he's been with us. (Not that he was primarily matched against TEs, he played a lot of shell coverage initially, and then they realized he couldnt cover and started to bring him down into the box to cover the flats primarily)

[egg]

[New Zealands #1 Colts Fan]

9 minutes ago, Four2itus said:

Next man up. 

 

Exactly 

[sb41champs]

While I was initially shocked at the "retirement announcement" - once I heard the reason - I was thrilled for him.

 

As a Bible college alumni - and - 2-time youth minister I understand his faith and passion for service.

 

May God bless his ministry and his future endeavors.

[throwing BBZ]

 

   As i had explained that Willis wasn't a great fit for any high quality D, this is a good out for us. The Cap $$$ will come in handy.
 I do wish him the best in his ministry. 
  And maybe he sits out a year to get back to 100%.

 

Edited June 18 by Superman

[#12.]

Did BBZ fall asleep with his head on the keyboard?

[shasta519]

51 minutes ago, AustinnKaine said:

Not to be negative but he was awful in coverage, especially when manned up with TEs and Backs. He is a read and react kind of guy that is decent coming down and hitting people and stopping their momentum, other than that, he isn't that good.

 

We were actually last against TEs last year, and towards the bottom every year he's been with us. (Not that he was primarily matched against TEs, he played a lot of shell coverage initially, and then they realized he couldnt cover and started to bring him down into the box to cover the flats primarily)

Yeah. Other than depth, this isn’t a huge loss, especially for the defense they want to run. 
 

But I will say this, Willis’ issues in pass coverages were not unique to him in that S room. Blackmon was a liability as well.

[AustinnKaine]

7 minutes ago, shasta519 said:

Yeah. Other than depth, this isn’t a huge loss, especially for the defense they want to run. 
 

But I will say this, Willis’ issues in pass coverages were not unique to him in that S room. Blackmon was a liability as well.

yeah but i feel like blackmon has more upside. Also if you look at their tackling ability its pretty close, but Blackmon is faster. 

 

Im a bigger fan of 32 now in his young career than I have been of Willis in the last 3. Of course Willis faced a lot of adversity in his personal life, but Blackmon has the injury issues. 

 

I personally think Cross will excel in this style of defense with his traits. 

[shasta519]

58 minutes ago, AustinnKaine said:

yeah but i feel like blackmon has more upside. Also if you look at their tackling ability its pretty close, but Blackmon is faster. 

 

Im a bigger fan of 32 now in his young career than I have been of Willis in the last 3. Of course Willis faced a lot of adversity in his personal life, but Blackmon has the injury issues. 

 

I personally think Cross will excel in this style of defense with his traits. 

I think Blackmon is better overall, but that’s not saying much. Willis was a solid, but limited player. 
 

Blackmon has more upside, given his experience at CB. But both are really just downhill Ss who can play the run…and not the pass. And even doing that, Blackmon still misses a fair amount of tackles. 

 

Even with the hot start in his first 5 games, Blackmon has allowed a 118 passer rating in his career. 
 

From his 4th game on (last 18 games), he has allowed a 139 passer rating…with 1 INT and 2 PDs.

From his 6th game on (last 16 games), he has allowed a 153 passer rating…with 0 INTs and 1 PD.

 

He has been trending in the wrong direction and hasn’t remotely been a ballhawking S since they played CHI with Foles at QB.
 

But people just remember the first few games…or MVS’s soft fumble in OT…or Lamar’s soft fumble this year. And assume he’s this great FS.
 

I know I sound like a hater, but I don’t care. Blackmon is an average player who has been (and prob will continue to be) a liability in coverage. And I think he’s very overrated by many. And I think he fits Bradley’s scheme even less, which is a problem.
 

And now he’s coming of an Achilles tear.  
 

But I honestly would like to see him play SS because I think he could play there. The thing is though, they just drafted a super athletic player who fits that spot to a T.

[Blueblood23]

5 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

Agreed.   Thanks for saying it. 
 

Personally, I hope we are paying Khari his salary just as we did with Luck.   That would be a classy way to send him off.   

Why pay him his salary for retirement? When people retire they usually if ever get paid for the year they’re not working. 

[NewColtsFan]

12 minutes ago, Blueblood23 said:

Why pay him his salary for retirement? When people retire they usually if ever get paid for the year they’re not working. 

In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter.   So far, there’s no indication that my idea is going to happen.   Willis is retiring and walking away from football.  The team supports his decision and that appears to be the end of the story.  

[jmac_48]

I understand what you are saying NCF, we may never know.

Irsay has a reputation with his charity of keeping it off the books and behind the curtain of media access.

 

Edited June 16 by jmac_48

[Boondoggle]

I expect he would have been phased out this year regardless.  But whether or not that was part of his rationale I always respect a player making a hard decision based on what is important to him.  Also while I am not religious another human being out there caring for others is a good thing so best of luck to him and family.

[Catloaf]

I wasn't ever a big fan of Willis except for the first year.  It just never seemed that he was making big plays compared to some of our other players.  Not really a big loss imo.

[cbear]

With all the attention to safety this team has shown, he probably let them know early on. 

 

One downside (if you want to call it that) to signing high character smart guys is they are likely to have greater passions outside of football imo. Hence the greater chance of early retirement. 

 

IMO, the calling of God overrides everything else. All the best to him and may he be used in a great and meaningful way. 

[NewColtsFan]

I think you have to be impressed by a man who is walking away from $2.5 MILLION dollars.  Even if he were bumped to second string, he was going to be on the 53.   So, he could’ve waited one more year, or even 7-8 more months to retire.  He could’ve made his money and THEN walked away.  
 

But he’s leaving now.   No one is pushing him.   He’s going because he has the calling to leave now, not after the season.   I think that makes him a very impressive person.   Very. 
 

Good luck to him…..    

[Jackie Daytona]

11 hours ago, MacDee1975 said:

He obviously doesn't give a crap about the money.  Why does everyone assume what motivates them applies to everyone else on the planet?

I mean.... It's not some great leap assuming someone should be largely motivated by 2.5 million.  99.9% of the world population would see that as a heavy inducement.  

 

Acting like the vast, vast, majority of people wouldn't opt for the money is either being disingenuous, or foolish.

[Matabix]

I feel both are interchangeable. Don't really need to put a Free or Strong before Safety. 

Just a couple of dudes bringing the hammer. 

[IrsaysArmy]

I think alot of us here are just brushing this aside as no big deal. 
 

Khari Willis is a stud. Just average in coverage but he’s a player. I think McLeod will be solid and hopefully Cross works out but this is a big loss IMO

[07dleigh]

You guys think our guys knew, or that we just got lucky as hell drafting Cross? Don't remember where we took Khari, but Cross is surely the better prospect, right?

 

Either way happy for Khari.. it's easier for me to be happy when it's a rising young safety vs an MVP level quarterback after playing his best (eye-test-wise) season to date lol.

 

 

[TaylorTheStudMuffin]

10 minutes ago, 07dleigh said:

You guys think our guys knew, or that we just got lucky as hell drafting Cross? Don't remember where we took Khari, but Cross is surely the better prospect, right?

 

Either way happy for Khari.. it's easier for me to be happy when it's a rising young safety vs an MVP level quarterback after playing his best (eye-test-wise) season to date lol.

 

 

On the blue stable last night one of the guys dug around he said and found out Willis was thinking about retiring last off season. I think they knew. We only had 3 safeties on the roster so I can’t imagine if that would of happened.

[King Colt]

So what? Didn't most of the members here retire at that age?

[Myles]

I wish him the best.   Hope all goes well in his ministry.   

Seems he could have done more by playing another year or 2.  An extra few million can do allot to help people.