Does This Team Have Talent?

[Dobbinblitz]

Cannot help but see a current trend of this team overvaluing players on their roster. 

 

The Colts made a decision early on in the offseason that Pryor was their man LT. He was not a draft pick that often comes with a bucket of unknowns in how the player will translate to the NFL. Instead, the team had all of last year and this offseason and campo to determine his readiness for starting role. The position itself is a critical foundational piece often only surpassed  by the QB position  in the formula for building a championship caliber team.

 

Now, after only 2 games all signs point to this not being the answer. It looks like Raimann will be thrust into the role of protecting the blind side of an aging immobile QB- hoping he is a draft day steal and the answer.

 

This roster talent valuation extends to trenches which Ballard has said many times that OL/DL was his primary team building focus and foundation during his tenure. So far, both are not performing to anticipated levels.  The same can be said about the WR room where the team consistently said they had full confidence in the players already on the team. Yes, this situation was amplified by the absence of Pittman and Pierce this past weekend when the team had 218 yards of offense. However, we have seen this with other "Hidden Gems" signed to the roster.

 

Many folks point to the wisdom of Ballard for refraining from jumping head first into free agency which is often very credible. But for a team that is clearly in a win now mode - there were very serviceable players available to at least at a minimum  bridge the development gap for players like Pierce and Raimann in the offseason.

 

Every team makes errors in judgement, but less stubbornness would serve this team better than current self inflicted  headstrong valuation of the Colts roster.

[Goatface Killah]

I think its obvious this team not only has talent but they have a lot of it.

 

The inconsistency is not a product of talent, its a product of coaching and preperation. Every team has holes on the roster. Every team has weak aspects of their team. Even though the talent has clearly improved over the last couple years, the team really hasnt. And I think that is a clear cut sign that the staff isnt very good at developing its players and preparing those players while setting them up for success thru gameplanning.

 

All of those things are a product of the work they have done off the field. 

 

Player development, penalties, sloppy fundamentals, poor clock management, poor decisions making, inconsistent performance......you name it and they struggle with it. Those are all indicators of whether or not a team is well coached.

 

I think basically what a good coach does in the NFL is they elevate the teams confidence, focus and discipline, and give them a winning strategy.

 

Reich fails in all of those areas.

[Rhodelesstraveled]

 People on this board refused to see what I saw last year.  We had 33 TO and we still missed the playoffs.  Without the TO we would have won 6 games with this roster.  Now I don't see us getting 33 TO this year.  

 

And the roster weakness wont be hidden any longer.  Fans need to see their team clearly.  Most here refuse to believe what their team is showing them.  

 

I got off that train last year.  We are not that good on the DL or OL or at QB.  

 

Good Football starts there 

[Nickster]

2 hours ago, shasta519 said:

 

That is just really sad. They have invested a #52, #49, #13, #21, #54 and basically a #34 (RYS trade for Ngakoue) into that DL. 

 

Different coaching staff too, so can't really blame it on Flus anymore.

 

Don't forget that not only all that draft capital, but also the 3rd highest defensive line spend inthe league, only 100,000 out of second!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Oline by the way #1 in the league BEFORE the Q contract.  

 

45% of all our money is in THOSE LINES THAT PLAYED THAT GAME SUNDAY.

 

Not too hard to figure out the problem with this team. 

[Defjamz26]

3 hours ago, stitches said:

Yes, it does have talent. The problem is the high end talent is at the positions least valuable to winning football in the modern day and the biggest problem of the roster are at the most important positions for winning. 

I agree with your sentiments. We have plenty of talent. But to win consistently in this league you need talent at LT, QB, Edge, and WR1. At all those positions we either have no talent, unproven talent, or stop gap guys.

[Goatface Killah]

10 minutes ago, Rhodelesstraveled said:

 People on this board refused to see what I saw last year.  We had 33 TO and we still missed the playoffs.  Without the TO we would have won 6 games with this roster.  Now I don't see us getting 33 TO this year.  

 

And the roster weakness wont be hidden any longer.  Fans need to see their team clearly.  Most here refuse to believe what their team is showing them.  

 

I got off that train last year.  We are not that good on the DL or OL or at QB.  

 

Good Football starts there 

You could literally do that with any team. 

 

If you take away what they do well, of course they arent gonna win very many games.

 

Thats not an objective assessment.

 

And they werent that bad in any of those areas you listed. Wentz put up respectable numbers at QB, the OL paved the way for a near 2k season for Taylor and the DL was average, not bad. 

 

You seem to base your entire opinion off the worst performances and give zero weight to the good ones. The Colts will have games this year where they look very good. Its the nature of the NFL for most teams. 

 

If the Bills fans based their opinions off the Colts game last year they wouldnt think very highly of their team.

[DougDew]

19 minutes ago, Nickster said:

 

Don't forget that not only all that draft capital, but also the 3rd highest defensive line spend inthe league, only 100,000 out of second!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Oline by the way #1 in the league BEFORE the Q contract.  

 

45% of all our money is in THOSE LINES THAT PLAYED THAT GAME SUNDAY.

 

Not too hard to figure out the problem with this team. 

I was not aware of this.  Golly, that's bad.

 

Not that I'm a Frank lover, but how is a HC and a play caller supposed to fix that? 

 

[TheShadow]

either we dont have enough talent or we have some pretty bad coaching and play calling.

[MPStack]

https://www.espn.com/blog/indianapolis-colts/post/_/id/27718/colts-entire-organization-should-expect-scrutiny-after-ugly-jags-loss

 

ESPN nailed it. 
 

 

[Thunderbolt]

No talented coaches especially in the HC dept  that's all as stated from some of the above posts.

[bestQBever]

I think it does but it's missing talent at all the key spots. Pass rush, O line (minus Q), QB kinda. Without a pass rush and an O line, you are a bottom feeder team.

[Nickster]

42 minutes ago, DougDew said:

I was not aware of this.  Golly, that's bad.

 

Not that I'm a Frank lover, but how is a HC and a play caller supposed to fix that? 

 

 

yeah, this ain't dropping balls or timing on plays or learning scheme.  This is physically getting your adz kicked.

 

 

 

[DougDew]

4 minutes ago, Nickster said:

 

yeah, this ain't dropping balls or timing on plays or learning scheme.  This is physically getting your adz kicked.

 

 

 

Sheard, Hunt, Autry, Houston, did okay with basically the same scheme.  And AC, Q, Kelly, Glow, Smith were outstanding with the same HC and two different Oline coaches I believe.

[Nickster]

1 minute ago, DougDew said:

Sheard, Hunt, Autry, Houston, did okay with basically the same scheme.  And AC, Q, Kelly, Glow, Smith were outstanding with the same HC and two different Oline coaches I believe.

AC was a stud and very underrated here.  Kelly is diminished.  Don't know what's up with Smith.  Glow is better than Pinter.  Watch the film.  Q ain't as good as he was.

 

Pryor is just 

[TheShadow]

2 hours ago, ColtsGermany said:

I think our team has talent at certain positions and probably more talent than the Falcons, a team that was viewed as one of the weakest, if not the weakest team this season. 

 

The point here is, as I watched a little bit more than the usual Highlights of the Falcons vs Rams: The Falcons played with some passion. They lost, for sure.... But they put up a fight! Something that I haven't seen yesterday's from the colts. That is what concerns me the most. Uninspiried football. 

I blame that on Reich and the coaching staff. 

Reich seems not to be an emotional leader nor does his play calling make up for the lack thereof the last 4 games. (Not only) 

I think he should be gone sooner than later. 

HC/GM last year with a bad team and no cap space, they have turn over most old players I am watch the game too. This team was  terrible under Dan Quinn. Since they got new a changed the  culture. There 1st yr was bad. but sundays game show large improvements. GM/HC does matter.

 

[RollerColt]

6 minutes ago, Nickster said:

AC was a stud and very underrated here.  Kelly is diminished.  Don't know what's up with Smith.  Glow is better than Pinter.  Watch the film.  Q ain't as good as he was.

 

Pryor is just 

I think all the back issues are catching up with Q. 

 

1 hour ago, Rhodelesstraveled said:

Fans need to see their team clearly.  Most here refuse to believe what their team is showing them.  

I think most are seeing how bad Sunday was. But fans seeing this stuff doesn't really do anything to improve the team. I mean sure, we can choose to not go to games, but those seats will fill up still by Colts fans outside this forum as well as traveling team's fans. 

[Nickster]

1 minute ago, RollerColt said:

I think all the back issues are catching up with Q. 

 

I think most are seeing how bad Sunday was. But fans seeing this stuff doesn't really do anything to improve the team. I mean sure, we can choose to not go to games, but those seats will fill up still by Colts fans outside this forum as well as traveling team's fans. 

 

If we are this bad the fans will speak clearly by not showing up on Sundays by week 8 or 9 and Irsay will respond. 

 

This team is all he has.  Besides some really cool guitars and manuscripts. 

[TheShadow]

1 hour ago, Coltsfan98 said:

Outside of a handful of players this team is just a bunch of jags. They've been overrated for awhile. Irsay needs to blow it up and can Ballard and the coaching staff and start over with a whole new crew. If not we are going to be mediocre for a long time. 

The actions or non-actions of the players are directly related to  the men at the top. GM,HC,OC,DC.  They set the teams culture, expectation, accountability, and sense of excellence. These 4 positions can make teams elite or make them mediocre or less.

[open window]

delayed gratification 

[ruf]

8 hours ago, luv_pony_express said:

 

This whole "Top  5 OLine" thing has been a lingering delusion based on what it used to be.

 

We have Nelson, yeah.  But Braden Smith is an expensive liability now.  For whatever reason, he has clearly regressed a lot.  Pryor is just in over his head at LT.  We do have a rookie, but he clearly wasn't ready to step into the role.  We let 2 serviceable RGs walk, because we had too much money in Nelson, Smith, and Kelly.

 

If we can't protect Matt Ryan, all the rest is academic.  And that's where we're at right now.  Both ends of the line are wide open.  I expected LT to be a problem.  RT being just as much of one is an unwelcome surprise.

amen someone finally gets it. it starts with the Oline and Smith is at this stage what he was drafted to be a G that would put our 3 over paid lineman in the middle at C RG and LG--that's what we should do going forward

[chickenMan]

Maybe controversially, I think this team is oozing with talent. The reason why this team sucks is as follows:

-Horrible, no-good, very bad coaching

-Awful defensive scheme

-Serious lack of offensive weapons (JT and Pittman are it, maybe Hines, Pierce, Woods, or Granson if we could utilize them at all)

-Bad OL play

-Immobile QB (compounded by bad OL play)

-No passion on the field (comes directly from the coaching)

 

I think this team could be a contender if we had even one more serious offensive threat, a real defensive scheme, and a head coach that gave a damn.

Maybe I’m just a homer. Idk.

[Rhodelesstraveled]

You are.  Seek therapy for your delusions

[coming on strong]

11 minutes ago, chickenMan said:

Maybe controversially, I think this team is oozing with talent. The reason why this team sucks is as follows:

-Horrible, no-good, very bad coaching

-Awful defensive scheme

-Serious lack of offensive weapons (JT and Pittman are it, maybe Hines, Pierce, Woods, or Granson if we could utilize them at all)

-Bad OL play

-Immobile QB (compounded by bad OL play)

-No passion on the field (comes directly from the coaching)

 

I think this team could be a contender if we had even one more serious offensive threat, a real defensive scheme, and a head coach that gave a damn.

Maybe I’m just a homer. Idk.

where is the talent oozing from ?  kelly smith moore and buckner  are playing horrible so far .   we have no left tackle one wr no good corner backs 33 year old gilmore is way past his prime .   no tight ends no defensive ends .

[coming on strong]

i hate how ballard constructed this team he takes a guard in 2018 instead of bradly chubb   he loves taking non premium positions and misses on wrs and defensive ends and corners like crazy .  the teams lack of wins comes directly from ballard missing so many high draft picks on corners defensive ends and wrs .   ballard takes aj brown bradly chubb and hits on a corner this team is a much better team .     ballard signs fisher over leno who was younger not injured and cheaper as a left tackle .  leno is playing very well you cant just look at ballards hits you have to look at his misses .     ballard trades for buckner at 13 instead of trading down for herbert   and signs rivers .   he band aids the most important positions and hits on non premium spots pittman is the only premium hit in the draft

[BlackTiger]

23 minutes ago, chickenMan said:

Maybe controversially, I think this team is oozing with talent.

not sure i see that this year.  Guys like Buckner, Moore, Gilmore, Smith and kelly used to be good but are all playing like crap.  We need WRs and a LT

 

We dont seem to have any good pass rushers on the team.  Matt hasnt been very good

[EastStreet]

10 hours ago, Smonroe said:

Serious question. I read all off season how talented this team is.  Best RB in the league. Top 5 Oline.  D line ready to break out with the new addition.  Solid LBs and DBs.

 

Everyone (except Ballard apparently) was concerned about the LT, WRs beyond MPJ, and TEs.

 

All the concerns are showing as true so far.   But my question is about the rest of it.  O line is just plain bad.  D line can’t get to the QB.  
 

To sum it up, imho the team has above average talent.  But way below average O and D coaching schemes.  (Okay, that was obvious.  I just felt like venting) 

There is talent

That talent won't play for Frank

 

Need an interim to push guys. Anyone that doesn't respond, bye. 

 

 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

Gut \\The team's talent is at least somewhat over hyped and in non impactful positions. The positions lacking are the most important (QB, WR, TE, LT, Pass Rushers).

 

But regardless of how talented a player/roster is, if the coaching and schemes are lacking then the talent will  be wasted.

 

[rock8591]

Doofus coaching staff that calls plays that maximize player weaknesses, minimize player strengths.

 

If hoodie was coaching this team, we would be 14-2 easily.

[k9copinmd]

14 hours ago, Smonroe said:

Serious question. I read all off season how talented this team is.  Best RB in the league. Top 5 Oline.  D line ready to break out with the new addition.  Solid LBs and DBs.

 

Everyone (except Ballard apparently) was concerned about the LT, WRs beyond MPJ, and TEs.

 

All the concerns are showing as true so far.   But my question is about the rest of it.  O line is just plain bad.  D line can’t get to the QB.  
 

To sum it up, imho the team has above average talent.  But way below average O and D coaching schemes.  (Okay, that was obvious.  I just felt like venting) 

My question would be....Does this team have HEART!

[Nickster]

11 hours ago, coming on strong said:

i hate how ballard constructed this team he takes a guard in 2018 instead of bradly chubb   he loves taking non premium positions and misses on wrs and defensive ends and corners like crazy .  the teams lack of wins comes directly from ballard missing so many high draft picks on corners defensive ends and wrs .   ballard takes aj brown bradly chubb and hits on a corner this team is a much better team .     ballard signs fisher over leno who was younger not injured and cheaper as a left tackle .  leno is playing very well you cant just look at ballards hits you have to look at his misses .     ballard trades for buckner at 13 instead of trading down for herbert   and signs rivers .   he band aids the most important positions and hits on non premium spots pittman is the only premium hit in the draft

Bolded is the main problem Stronger.

[Dingus McGirt]

18 hours ago, Coltsfan98 said:

Outside of a handful of players this team is just a bunch of jags. They've been overrated for awhile. Irsay needs to blow it up and can Ballard and the coaching staff and start over with a whole new crew. If not we are going to be mediocre for a long time. 

Mediocre would look good right now.