Position that worries you the most

[NewColtsFan]

1 hour ago, Stephen said:

If the oline sucks im fine with sitting Richardson in that scenerio to

If, for some odd reason, the O-line still sucks this year, all heck is going to break loose.   All bets would be off.

[Crunked]

All 5 O-line positions......I need to know that last year was due to coaching incompetence and undisclosed injuries from the high dollar guys and not diminished skill set from the high dollar guys and lack of experience from the young guys.......In other words I gotta see its fixed and that will probably take a few games before I fall for that banana in the tail pipe again. 

[AwesomeAustin]

17 hours ago, CR91 said:

 

Can definitely understand that, but AR is probably the most excited we as a fan base have been since Andrew. You got Tony Dungy and Shaq watching the kid practice. That's saying something.

I agree with you but instead of excited I would lean towards hopeful.  I was excited with Manning and Luck. We knew they were going to be great but Richardson has a much longer way to go to even be good. I’m grateful they took the chance on a rookie QB and will have a great time watching him develop. 
 

So QB is what I’m worried about most, then I would say DE.  I don’t think we have a great pass rush and have pegged Dayo an average player from the start.  I hope this is the year it all comes together bc a lot of draft capital has been spent on the DL. 

[Creekside]

2 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

If, for some odd reason, the O-line still sucks this year, all heck is going to break loose.   All bets would be off.

 

Respectfully, why would it be odd?....

 

The Colts have added zero known talent to the O-Line this off season. I'm not complaing, because I like what they did in the draft. The roster needed so much attention in so many places....I don't necessarily disagree entering this season with Raiman and Fries because they are young and did improve as the season went along last year.... And I don't necessarily disagree with hoping Kelly will bounce back after two injury-laden sub-par years...

 

But there is a lot of "hoping" and crossing of the fingers going on here with not one, not two, but THREE positions on the O-Line...

[krunk]

I think the Jeff Saturday hire was primarily to see if he could fix the offensive line problem. To find out if it was more personnel related. Or something more related to scheme and coaching.  I do think Irsay was also helping Jeff with his coaching career, but overall I think it was a move to get first hand data from Jeff regarding what the real cause of the problem was and what needed to be done to fix it.

 

Saturday was the main person Irsay reached out to during that Pats game trying to figure out what was going on with the OL. Irsay hired him and he was able to get a consistent lineup in place and settle things down. I'm sure he made some specific recommendations to Ballard and Irsay based on his experience coaching the team. He had already been consulting from the outside anyway.

[throwing BBZ]

12 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

It’s called being hurt.   Kelly has played hurt for the better part of two years now.  And having terrible RGs next to him last year didn’t help matters. 

 

 Hopefully that left elbow is close to 100%. I don't believe that he had been able to lift anywhere close to what is needed to be at his best.

 Supposedly he was shopped which gives me doubts where he was at. His experience is invaluable so let's hope he can hold his own. 

 I'm very impressed that Raimann has added 15 lbs, the right way.

He was looking really good at moving them back and maintaining contact in the run game. And his pass blocking was solid by seasons end. His 1st rd traits were showing. JMO that he will become a stud. Soon, very soon.

[MikeCurtis]

For me its

 

RG

DE (We STILL dont have someone that that the other team fears.... my hope is that the DEs take a step this year)

LB - Still not sure about our all star LB coming back 100%

 

IMHO, you cant worry about the QB...... it WILL be a rocky road..... but my hope is strong for the long term

 

In the offseason, my hope is that we bring in a RG to compete and maybe a DE vet, who can add a little pressure

[BeanDiasucci]

17 hours ago, richard pallo said:

Ballard doesn’t seem to be worried about the OL like the rest of us.  You would think after last year he would be.  He must be satisfied with how Fries and Raimann finished the year.  I think he will add some inexpensive OL depth as backups to our current OL starters and just expect continued development from them.  That would probably take Risner off the table.  

Do you mean Ballard is satisfied with Fries and Raimann going into the 2023 season like he was satisfied with Prior and Pinter going into 2022?

[throwing BBZ]

2 hours ago, krunk said:

I think the Jeff Saturday hire was primarily to see if he could fix the offensive line problem. To find out if it was more personnel related. Or something more related to scheme and coaching.  I do think Irsay was also helping Jeff with his coaching career, but overall I think it was a move to get first hand data from Jeff regarding what the real cause of the problem was and what needed to be done to fix it.

 

Saturday was the main person Irsay reached out to during that Pats game trying to figure out what was going on with the OL. Irsay hired him and he was able to get a consistent lineup in place and settle things down. I'm sure he made some specific recommendations to Ballard and Irsay based on his experience coaching the team. He had already been consulting from the outside anyway.

 

  100% Krunk.  I think Jeff gave a valuable assessment.

 That we drafted two tackles to me means Smith has G play in our future.

 Today, I could see our rookie 4th rounder playing RT and Smith to either G position if injury were involved.

  But I also would note our udfa G from Alabama fell because of knee concerns and might be a solid RG if called upon.

 I like that he is short and stout, he just might become very good at getting low and to be powerful in Steichen's extraordinarily successful short yardage scheme.

 Fries has the upside to be as good as or better than Glow was on a good day, but I could also see him as not having the quickness to ideally make some of the blocks that Seumalu made for Hurts. 

 Richardson is going to make it all so interesting.

[NewColtsFan]

3 hours ago, Creekside said:

 

Respectfully, why would it be odd?....

 

The Colts have added zero known talent to the O-Line this off season. I'm not complaing, because I like what they did in the draft. The roster needed so much attention in so many places....I don't necessarily disagree entering this season with Raiman and Fries because they are young and did improve as the season went along last year.... And I don't necessarily disagree with hoping Kelly will bounce back after two injury-laden sub-par years...

 

But there is a lot of "hoping" and crossing of the fingers going on here with not one, not two, but THREE positions on the O-Line...

Ballard’s view was that the players who played LT and RG last year badly impacted the three veterans.    Those players got better toward the end of the season.   So the OL group went from being ranked nearly dead last at the mid-way point of the season and ended up finishing about 18th.   So they already improved.  

 

Those players should now make the expected jump from rookie to second year player that is typically done.   So the line should be better, at least in theory. 

 

And if it’s not,  I think all heck would break loose.    I’m not saying they’ll be top-10, though I hope they would be.   But a return to being terrible as they were last year should not happen. 
 

 

[richard pallo]

48 minutes ago, BeanDiasucci said:

Do you mean Ballard is satisfied with Fries and Raimann going into the 2023 season like he was satisfied with Prior and Pinter going into 2022?

It looks that way to me unless we make a meaningful signing.

[throwing BBZ]

6 hours ago, krunk said:

The LB Titus Leo who they drafted looks pretty good to me and like you said we've got Doman. Colts have done pretty good with the LB they've drafted low for the most part. I'm sure we've probably got somebody else from the UDFA who may pop as well. For Guard I think Ekiyor will be stiff competition for Fries. It's year 2 for Pinter so he may also have gotten stronger and more experienced enough to step in temporarily in case of injury also. You can slide Smith there too if need be. Vet route is possible also. I think at least one of those depth tackles that we drafted may end up on the PS. I think we may bring in another Veteran swing tackle.

 

 Leo is much like Ngaukee. 

[ChuggaBeer]

Downward Facing Dog.     But I don't really do Yoga so usually its just by accident I get into that position 

[krunk]

6 minutes ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

 Leo is much like Ngaukee. 

Leo is more versatile.  He can play LB and Edge. 

[throwing BBZ]

3 hours ago, Creekside said:

 

Respectfully, why would it be odd?....

 

The Colts have added zero known talent to the O-Line this off season. I'm not complaing, because I like what they did in the draft. The roster needed so much attention in so many places....I don't necessarily disagree entering this season with Raiman and Fries because they are young and did improve as the season went along last year.... And I don't necessarily disagree with hoping Kelly will bounce back after two injury-laden sub-par years...

 

But there is a lot of "hoping" and crossing of the fingers going on here with not one, not two, but THREE positions on the O-Line...

 

 Every team has o-line changes each year with hope it works out.

Since you make no mention of o-line injuries, the poor blocking from all positions, or Frank's vanilla play calling, or the poor, statuesque QB play as parts of the 2022's breakdown, your position is vanilla without the vanilla.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

GM  

[NewColtsFan]

We’ve had some interesting responses.   So, inspired by a few of those, I’ll add a new one.   
 

Offensive line coach.

 

Sparano may be terrific.   I sure hope so.  
But this job is the first time he’s been the OL Coach1.    He’s always been #2. 
 

He can only rely on his experience as the assistant OL coach.   So every decision of consequence he makes will be the first time for Sparano. 
 

On the positive side, I’m heartened that Steichen said Sparano was the best interview by far and that he knew he’d hire Sparano halfway thru a 4-5 hour interview.  
So I hope he’s a rising star.   
 

If the OL rises to top-10 status it enjoyed in 18, 19, 20 and nearly 21, then the season will be clearly better and Richardson’s development will be aided dramatically. 

[DiogoSales]

Untill we see what we have on QB, no reason to spend money on FA for 2-3 years..

 

If we think we can be good this year, than we will find a ver G. If not, just let all the promising rookies play and improve 

[Scott Pennock]

The only positional group that ‘worries’ me is the offensive line. The team needs them to find their swag again for AR5’s sake. Unlike previous QB’s he has the ability to escape and save a beating but it is still a concern. Remember David Carr’s rookie year? Ouch…..

 

I strongly believe that both of Freeland and Ekiyor are capable of starting at the NFL level given their history and I especially believe that Ekiyor will likely beat out Will Fries AND Danny Pinter at RG……

Raimann - Nelson - Kelly - Ekiyor - Smith will return our line to respectable form with Sporano’s voice in their ear. Pinter, Fries and Freeland make for solid depth. 
 

Having said that, we should be under no illusion that we will go from worst to first THIS year. 
 

So what I would like to see is all of Brents, Rush, Jones and Flowers getting plenty of reps at Corner and all of Thomas, Cross and Scott getting plenty of reps at Safety this year to grow together as a young, fast, aggressive defensive backfield. Whatever Moore, Rodgers and Blackmon add is superfluous at this point in my mind.

 

Same at TE - if Ogletree shows out again and Mallory’s skills play then I’m sorry either Mo or Gransen has to go in favor of Woods, Ogletree and Mallory…..

 

 I feel like this is the year we finally give up on the oft-injured Lewis and just let the young cat Titus Leo take those backup Leo snaps….especially with the addition of Ade Ade and Taven Bryan inside as well.

 

Basically we gotta sacrifice a little playing time to let the kids grow into the next great team. My humble opinion of course……

[krunk]

23 hours ago, MikeCurtis said:

For me its

 

RG

DE (We STILL dont have someone that that the other team fears.... my hope is that the DEs take a step this year)

LB - Still not sure about our all star LB coming back 100%

 

IMHO, you cant worry about the QB...... it WILL be a rocky road..... but my hope is strong for the long term

 

In the offseason, my hope is that we bring in a RG to compete and maybe a DE vet, who can add a little pressure

The thing is we have a nice rotation of interior pass rushers. When you have that then you don't have as big of a need to have big names at Edge. Even though we don't have big names we've got nice athletes on the edge between Paye, Ekubam, Lewis, Odeyingbo. They will get plenty of 1 on 1s bc of the interior pass rush coming from Buckner, Adebowore, Odeyingbo. Even Lewis slides inside at times. I think we will be fine.

[MikeCurtis]

14 minutes ago, krunk said:

The thing is we have a nice rotation of interior pass rushers. When you have that then you don't have as big of a need to have big names at Edge. Even though we don't have big names we've got nice athletes on the edge between Paye, Ekubam, Lewis, Odeyingbo. They will get plenty of 1 on 1s bc of the interior pass rush coming from Buckner, Adebowore, Odeyingbo. Even Lewis slides inside at times. I think we will be fine.

I hope you are right.

 

I am hoping that Paye takes a step forward this year.

 

When you are playing with a lead (Not much of that last year) you can pin your ears back.......  

 

I didnt see that enough

[GwinnettColt]

First concern-O-line.

Secondary concern-QB, because of first concern.

[husker61]

Qb, easily!

[crazycolt1]

Have to keep in mind that Ballard is not yet done acquiring players.  There will be plenty of player movement between now and the first game of the season. 

[Hoosierdome98]

OL … Richardson can’t be on his back or running for his life all the time.. 

[Defjamz26]

CB

 

Yes we drafted 3 and have Moore in the slot, but that much youth at corner isn’t ideal. I like Brent’s starting, but I feel like we need a veteran on the opposite side. We have Rogers but Gus doesn’t seem to use him a whole lot.

[DougDew]

A tie between QB and CB.

[krunk]

Our WRs are okay to me but I still think we lack some explosion.   I do like our TE Room though!

Im very curious to see how much we get Richardson going with the Tight Ends. 

[Myles]

QB, of course.  

[krunk]

Wonder if we'd have any interest in adding Leonard Floyd?

[Happy2BeHere]

The “soap drop pickup” position worries me the most. I’m not as young as I used to be  

[Believe blue1306]

I can see why a lot have concerns about Kelly. And how he's been playing the last couple years. And probably deserved. But he's had a different QB every year for a very long time. That has to be tough. Just saying

[shasta519]

On offense, it's still definitely QB. The current choices are Gardner Minshew and a 21 year-old rookie who has started 13 games.

 

The OL gets an honorable mention though. They have an older LT entering year 2, an AP LG who has had multiple surgeries and has not played at that high level for a couple of years, a C who has been on the decline for a couple seasons, a 7th round RG entering his second year...and Braden Smith.

 

On defense, it has to be CB. The depth chart currently consists of a veteran nickel CB nearing 30 who either isn't a good player anymore or doesn't fit the scheme (my money is on the former), a 4th year undersized, but exciting CB who has never played more than 48% of the snaps in a season...and 2-3 rookies.

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

On 5/11/2023 at 10:19 AM, BeanDiasucci said:

Do you mean Ballard is satisfied with Fries and Raimann going into the 2023 season like he was satisfied with Prior and Pinter going into 2022?

I believe this is exactly true and Ballards worries are padded by Richardsons elite pocket awareness and escape ability. 

[lollygagger8]

Probably Cobra into Downward Dog. 

 

It hurts my back just watching those yoga positions 

[ADnum1]

On 5/11/2023 at 11:06 AM, NewColtsFan said:

Ballard’s view was that the players who played LT and RG last year badly impacted the three veterans.    Those players got better toward the end of the season.   So the OL group went from being ranked nearly dead last at the mid-way point of the season and ended up finishing about 18th.   So they already improved.  

 

Those players should now make the expected jump from rookie to second year player that is typically done.   So the line should be better, at least in theory. 

 

And if it’s not,  I think all heck would break loose.    I’m not saying they’ll be top-10, though I hope they would be.   But a return to being terrible as they were last year should not happen. 
 

 

Thats strange.  During the NFL draft, when the Colts picked the OT the hosts said the Colts had the worst pass blocking oline in the league.

 

The worst.

 

So its concerning that we've not made any moves to improve our center or RG.

 

I've heard the Colts went up to 18 during the end of last season but the NFL Draft show contradicts that.

[NewColtsFan]

1 hour ago, PRnum1 said:

Thats strange.  During the NFL draft, when the Colts picked the OT the hosts said the Colts had the worst pass blocking oline in the league.

 

The worst.

 

So its concerning that we've not made any moves to improve our center or RG.

 

I've heard the Colts went up to 18 during the end of last season but the NFL Draft show contradicts that.

 

Hmmm….

I don’t think it’s a contradiction.   The ESPN comment is based on the most sacks given up — 60.   But it’s not based on the player or unit grade.   

 

The other issue is based on their actual grade which is not just based on pass blocking, which improved, but also run blocking.   So it’s possible for two things to be true at the same time.   (A) that the Colts gave up the most sacks on a season-long basis, and (B) the blocking improved over the course of the season to end up as 18.   
 

Hope that clarifies, but feel free to ask a follow up if you want to question or comment.  

[ADnum1]

27 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Hmmm….

I don’t think it’s a contradiction.   The ESPN comment is based on the most sacks given up — 60.   But it’s not based on the player or unit grade.   

 

The other issue is based on their actual grade which is not just based on pass blocking, which improved, but also run blocking.   So it’s possible for two things to be true at the same time.   (A) that the Colts gave up the most sacks on a season-long basis, and (B) the blocking improved over the course of the season to end up as 18.   
 

Hope that clarifies, but feel free to ask a follow up if you want to question or comment.  

Ok so you're saying that the number 18 ranking is based on run blocking combined with pass blocking ?

 

Because the espn hosts clearly said the the Colts had the "worst pass blocking in the league" which would put their pass blocking at 32 not 18.

[NewColtsFan]

1 hour ago, PRnum1 said:

Ok so you're saying that the number 18 ranking is based on run blocking combined with pass blocking ?

 

Because the espn hosts clearly said the the Colts had the "worst pass blocking in the league" which would put their pass blocking at 32 not 18.

Yes….  The 18th overall ranking from PFF is based on the units overall grade.   A combination of run blocking and pass blocking combined.   

 

The Colts were tied for dead last with one other team which also gave up 60 sacks.   But the dead last category was sacks allowed, not pass blocking.   Believe it or not it’s possible to be dead last in sacks allowed without being last in overall pass blocking grading.