“Legion of Bloom”

[TrueBlue4ever]

As excited as I am for the upcoming season and the development of our young talent, I’m most excited about the youth movement in our secondary. Juju certainly has the juice and the entire group has some internal Swag and speed. They will be tested early and often, I loved what Venturi mentioned about using this time in the next few joint practices and games to have them get on the line of scrimmage and press coverage. Of course we know the edge rush will assist them, but the pieces and the foundation are there! 

[Scott Pennock]

I agree - each of the rookies Brents, Rush, Jones, and the 2nd year guys Flowers and Baker all bring different strengths to the table but they all brought game experience and ball skills to the table - albeit the latter two at smaller schools!

 

 I think we’re in good hands in the secondary moving forward! Plus you can’t teach 9+ RAS Scores, 6’+ height, long arms and the willingness to be coached (presumably vetted out during the draft process). Those were God given traits - but good technique can be taught!

[Moosejawcolt]

1 hour ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

As excited as I am for the upcoming season and the development of our young talent, I’m most excited about the youth movement in our secondary. Juju certainly has the juice and the entire group has some internal Swag and speed. They will be tested early and often, I loved what Venturi mentioned about using this time in the next few joint practices and games to have them get on the line of scrimmage and press coverage. Of course we know the edge rush will assist them, but the pieces and the foundation are there! 

If we can develop some of these corners to play man, then I will be optimistic.  I am excited about Rush. He has elite speed and I see him as the guy, and I think the Colts do too. I think he was drafted so that they could throw in more wrinkles when it comes to play calling.

[Smonroe]

Not to be a downer, and I like our young guys, but I hope we don’t see that cover 2 on third and long again.

 

Nothing more disappointing than the D plays great on 1st and 2nd, putting pressure on the QB or stopping the RB for a loss - and then on 3rd and long, they let the QB scan the field and hit a wide open receiver for the first.  
 

Venturi made a good point, let the guys press a lot in the preseason games.   See how they cover. They have the length and speed.  

[Stephen]

2 hours ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

As excited as I am for the upcoming season and the development of our young talent, I’m most excited about the youth movement in our secondary. Juju certainly has the juice and the entire group has some internal Swag and speed. They will be tested early and often, I loved what Venturi mentioned about using this time in the next few joint practices and games to have them get on the line of scrimmage and press coverage. Of course we know the edge rush will assist them, but the pieces and the foundation are there! 

Hopefully  Lawrence doesn't  toss 7 tds against them in our opener. Like manning did to an inexperienced  ravens secondary in 2013

[TimetobringDfence!]

1 hour ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

As excited as I am for the upcoming season and the development of our young talent, I’m most excited about the youth movement in our secondary. Juju certainly has the juice and the entire group has some internal Swag and speed. They will be tested early and often, I loved what Venturi mentioned about using this time in the next few joint practices and games to have them get on the line of scrimmage and press coverage. Of course we know the edge rush will assist them, but the pieces and the foundation are 

If the D front steps up and shows growth it will really help these CBs build confidence. I think Kwitty steps up big. And I'm happy getting AQM back as a rotation piece. 

[Moosejawcolt]

6 hours ago, Smonroe said:

Not to be a downer, and I like our young guys, but I hope we don’t see that cover 2 on third and long again.

 

Nothing more disappointing than the D plays great on 1st and 2nd, putting pressure on the QB or stopping the RB for a loss - and then on 3rd and long, they let the QB scan the field and hit a wide open receiver for the first.  
 

Venturi made a good point, let the guys press a lot in the preseason games.   See how they cover. They have the length and speed.  

People are all for out guys playing press until they give up a bomb. They play zone for a reason. They don't have the skill set to play.  I have some faith that  Rush may finally give thr Colts some ability to man up on the opposing teams #1.

[Superman]

6 hours ago, Smonroe said:

Venturi made a good point, let the guys press a lot in the preseason games.   See how they cover. They have the length and speed.  

 

Venturi is a "fail my way" kind of guy. That's fine when you're the coach, but it seems pointless to ignore the fact that our DC is a zone coverage guy who loves to take away the deep ball. He's paid some lip service to playing press, but watching the games, it's not something he's going to employ very often. Don't know why people keep beating this drum.

 

If you want to see the Colts play press and other coverages, you probably need to wait until they hire a different DC. And probably until they hire a different GM, because this is evidently Ballard's preferred defensive approach as well.

[Stephen]

3 hours ago, Moosejawcolt said:

People are all for out guys playing press until they give up a bomb. They play zone for a reason. They don't have the skill set to play.  I have some faith that  Rush may finally give thr Colts some ability to man up on the opposing teams #1.

I hate when it's  3rd and 4 and they play 10 yards off the wr

[Moosejawcolt]

25 minutes ago, Stephen said:

I hate when it's  3rd and 4 and they play 10 yards off the wr

They do it because the D coordinator had little faith in their corners not  to get beat deep. I agree it's frustrating but I between would have screamed louder seeing these guys play ip in the wrs face only to get torched for 60 yard over and over.  It's also the philosophy of this D. Make them earn it going down the field and don't give up the big play.  Hope thr Dline is able to pressure the qb, which in turn leads to a turnover and/or long yardage situations.

[AwesomeAustin]

9 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Venturi is a "fail my way" kind of guy. That's fine when you're the coach, but it seems pointless to ignore the fact that our DC is a zone coverage guy who loves to take away the deep ball. He's paid some lip service to playing press, but watching the games, it's not something he's going to employ very often. Don't know why people keep beating this drum.

 

If you want to see the Colts play press and other coverages, you probably need to wait until they hire a different DC. And probably until they hire a different GM, because this is evidently Ballard's preferred defensive approach as well.

I agree.  I see this stated on the board often enough it’s a bit concerning.  Now I can see a bit more man coverage until the secondary is fully in sync but for the most part, this should be a zone defense. I think they will have a lot of growing pains this year.  Teams will test them early and often to try to build a quick lead and make our offense play from behind. 
 

I keep seeing Rush mentioned often as big potential. Am I missing something?  He was a 23yr old 5th round pick and kind of new to the position. He sounds like a backup to me. I haven’t paid attention to much of training camp so is their legitimate buzz about this guy or is he the yearly draft class darling?

[Superman]

4 hours ago, AwesomeAustin said:

I agree.  I see this stated on the board often enough it’s a bit concerning.  Now I can see a bit more man coverage until the secondary is fully in sync but for the most part, this should be a zone defense. I think they will have a lot of growing pains this year.  Teams will test them early and often to try to build a quick lead and make our offense play from behind. 
 

I keep seeing Rush mentioned often as big potential. Am I missing something?  He was a 23yr old 5th round pick and kind of new to the position. He sounds like a backup to me. I haven’t paid attention to much of training camp so is their legitimate buzz about this guy or is he the yearly draft class darling?

 

Rush fits the desired physical profile, especially if you're still stuck in 2013 and thinking about the old Seahawks defense (which Bradley has changed dramatically since then). He's basically a faster version of Richard Sherman -- big, long, not great in man coverage but aggressive when the ball is in the area, good ball skills... he's even a converted WR like Sherman was, and they both went in the fifth round. He's basically what you want for a match zone defense, a great match for any bend-don't-break philosophy.

 

I generally don't crown any rookies before I see them play. I like Rush's profile but I'm not expecting him to become a star. I'm trying to keep my expectations in check for Downs, but he's the one that looks really exciting to me.

 

And yeah, with a young secondary, you can try different things, but Bradley is a conservative, deep coverage guy, for better or worse. I'm not a huge fan, and I'd love to see us go a different direction after this season, but I'm not holding my breath.

[sb41champs]

On 8/16/2023 at 11:07 AM, TrueBlue4ever said:

As excited as I am for the upcoming season and the development of our young talent, I’m most excited about the youth movement in our secondary. Juju certainly has the juice and the entire group has some internal Swag and speed. They will be tested early and often, I loved what Venturi mentioned about using this time in the next few joint practices and games to have them get on the line of scrimmage and press coverage. Of course we know the edge rush will assist them, but the pieces and the foundation are there! 

I think our Colts D can take a big step forward this year.

 

It will help them immensely IF the offense can hold up their end - and - give the defense some significant rest.