my thoughts going forward

[tweezy32]

35 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

You all want Bradley fired because the defense was so beat up but yet want to invest heavily on offense. That makes zero sense.

We want him gone because he refused to change anything that wasnt working. No blitzes, not doubling up on Nico when he was there only weapon. Giving 10+ yards cushion on 3rd and longs like do something different and stop letting the offense pick the defense apart. 

[DEColtsLover36]

2 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Houston dominating the next decade will never happen. They barely beat us the other night and IMO we played poorly for the most part. Let's see them beat us when AR is starter because in week 2 AR was outplaying Stroud bigtime and we were up 14-0 before he got that concussion. I think between the Colts, Jags, and Texans anyone can win the South in 2024. Titans will be the only team that stinks. Just my 2 cents. 

 

Regarding Ryans and Steichen - it is pretty even, so the Texans don't even have the better coach. Regarding Stroud being great for the next decade, we don't know if he will or not. Most people said Lawrence would dominate this year and the Jags would run away with the South. The aged about as well as everyone saying Caleb Williams /USC would win the National Championship before the season .

I agree with most of this lol. Happy to see your thoughts about the game finally! Of course your absence was noticeable in the Texans Colts post game thread. You may have jumped on after a few days but I stopped reading after about Day 2 so I could go throw eggs at stuff and cry in a corner somewhere lol 

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

3 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

You all want Bradley fired because the defense was so beat up but yet want to invest heavily on offense. That makes zero sense.

I’d like to see Bradley tweak his defense more so than for him to be gone. If he’s not willing to tweak it then I think he should go. No more 15 yard cushions. 

[tweezy32]

What would yall do if MHj fell to us and we passed up on him lol.. 

 

i know it’s not happening but what would yall do if that did?!

[Patrick Miller]

Imo we need to either stay put at 15 or move up and get a legit #1 playmaker at wideout. I wouldn’t mind drafting that te out of Georgia  Brock bowers either!

[EasyE]

My thoughts is, as Colts fans we are in good spot with Shane as coach. We are competitive and didn't lose by blowouts. Plus we almost made playoffs with backup QB basically the whole season. I'm excited for next season already and have to wait. 😩 Lol This season is nothing to hang your head down on. I believe in Colts and it will only get better. Much respect to all you Colt fans. Go Coltsnation!!!

[Stephen]

On 1/9/2024 at 6:05 PM, ruf said:

haven't been on in a while so looking forward to give some thoughts after the disapointing loss.

 

Gus the DC it looks like will remain therefore one of two things: we need to draft for the D and it should be at #15 the best DE on the board--resign GS and KMII as well as Blackmon--and 2nd round should go LB and 3rd FS--the rest of  the draft should be best players for either side of the ball--if we resign Pittman now with this in mind we can fix the D enough while thinking that with AR back it will even things out

 

the other thought would be to go top 3 draft picks O and just hope we can outscore everybody-- #15 best WR and they should be some good one--2ndrd maybe a stud OG if one there 3rd maybe another OL maybe OT--we want to give AR the best chance to pass or with JT and him to run--

 

AR will improve the O as is with Pitt back--so the question is and i think we should do one or the other---should we fix the D or outscore everyone on O

We need a dynamic  wr Odunze,  nabers, Brian Thomas Jr, Coleman somebody lol

[ruf]

1 hour ago, Stephen said:

We need a dynamic  wr Odunze,  nabers, Brian Thomas Jr, Coleman somebody lol

there is one ranked about #4 or 5 wr that runs a 4.27 40 i forget his name but i would like to pick him with that #15 pick

but.. if no game changer at #15 i don't want to move up i would rather then focus on the D side of the ball with the best pass rush DE hopefully a 3 down player

 

if we do that i even thought of putting him at RDE and moving Buckner to LDE with GS at NT and maybe then looking for a 3tect DT in FA or #2 draft pick if there is someone there.

[ruf]

On 1/11/2024 at 12:55 PM, Stephen said:

We need a dynamic  wr Odunze,  nabers, Brian Thomas Jr, Coleman somebody lol

it looks like the way the mock drafts are going its going the go Offense pretty heavy which would mean by pick 15 there should be some decent picks on the D side of the ball

[DavePSL]

Another issue is, the Texans and Titans have more cap space than us. Ballard has to be special here and aggressive. I say we get AR as many weapons as possible because his growth is the most important next step for the franchise. We don't want him out there with less talent trying to win games by himself (Andrew Luck). Thats trouble and could set he and his confidence back and that would be a disaster. I'm tired of listening to Ballard talk up average WR's and loaded TE rooms.

[ArmchairQB]

On 1/10/2024 at 2:59 AM, ThorstenDenmark said:

Stroud is a future MVP in the NFL and DeMeco Ryan looks to be a great coach in the perfect situation.

Honestly, if Houston does this one right, they are going to dominate the AFC South in the next decade.

 

Tennessee is going to start all over with a new coach, new QB and new everything.

Jaguars have Jennifer Lawrence at QB, but looks to have some huge holes on and off the field.

 

Regarding the Colts, we don't know what we have in Anthony Richardson and with Irsays illness things off the field might have a huge impact on the future of the colts  

Pittman want out of Indy and our second best WR is Pierce, but he's average at best. 

Our pass defence is lacking playmakers and though shane steichen did a great job, I can´t see us challenge Houston nor Jags in the next couple of years.

 

Houston got their hands on the next Andrew Luck and I bet they won't make stroud retire due to a bad O-line.

Stroud had one dominant game against TB where he went for 470 yards and 5 TD’s with no picks.  You take that game away he passed for 3800/18/5.  Not crazy numbers.  He doesn’t turn the ball over much and he is accurate but he’s still a young QB that has trouble reading defenses.  Doesn’t mean he won’t get better but there is no reason to believe we wont compete.  We did this year with Gardner Minshew.  
 

Also Demeco Ryans had two games without his franchise QB and got blown out in one and the other one was a last minute come back win against Tennessee.  As stated earlier in the thread let’s see how he does when he has to face real difficulties.

[ArmchairQB]

2 hours ago, DavePSL said:

Another issue is, the Texans and Titans have more cap space than us. Ballard has to be special here and aggressive. I say we get AR as many weapons as possible because his growth is the most important next step for the franchise. We don't want him out there with less talent trying to win games by himself (Andrew Luck). Thats trouble and could set he and his confidence back and that would be a disaster. I'm tired of listening to Ballard talk up average WR's and loaded TE rooms.

Not sure where you got that from according to OTC Colts are 5th in cap space just ahead of Houston.  Titans should have a bunch of cap space they have been selling assets off for 2 years.  Either way we are in good shape cap wise.  No reason to think we can’t compete to sign players. 
 

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space

 

As far as my take on the draft.  I think the biggest thing we can do to help AR (besides keeping him healthy) is shoring up our defense especially our pass rush and our secondary.  I’m not opposed to signing another WR in FA either.  But taking the pressure to score 30 points a game to win away is also a big help to a young QB.  

[NewColtsFan]

On 1/10/2024 at 6:30 PM, Patrick Miller said:

Imo we need to either stay put at 15 or move up and get a legit #1 playmaker at wideout. I wouldn’t mind drafting that te out of Georgia  Brock bowers either!

Ballard has never traded up in the first round.  Way too expensive.   Don't expect him to do it for the first time this year.  
 

This year’s WR class is said to be talented and deep.  I believe Ballard and Steichen will find a WR they like in the first two rounds.   

 

[MacDee1975]

On 1/9/2024 at 9:00 PM, chad72 said:

 

Yes but when he had both Tank Dell and Noah Brown to throw to, he was getting to the point of unstoppable. We got to evaluate him with JUST Nico Collins and he still beat us. He rarely turns the ball over and plays sound QB football. Plus, we can't assume the Texans aren't going to upgrade the TE or OL or defense either to increase his margin for error. Texans do scare me for the next decade if they manage to keep Stroud upright.

 

Once Slowik leaves, likely after next season, Stroud won't have his pick wide open receivers to throw to, with tons of time in the pocket to do so, any longer.  The scheme is what makes Houston dangerous, not the qb.  He'll still be a good qb post Slowik, but in no way shape or form is he "special".  Put him on Carolina and he sucks just as bad as Young did.  Slowik is the brains behind that entire operation.  If Houston is ever gonna do anything, it better be next year before Slowik leaves.

 

Not to mention Houston won't be playing a last place schedule next year.  They'll actually have to play against top defenses next season.   And you saw how well Slowik/Stroud was able to handle Baltimore's defense in the playoffs.

[MacDee1975]

On 1/10/2024 at 9:44 AM, tomloge1 said:

Agreed.  In my eyes, Houston didn't "win" the game.  The Colts handed the game to Houston on a silver platter.  The one time the Colts blitzed they sacked Stroud for a loss.  Maybe the Colts should consider bllitzing more than once per game.  Occassionally the blitz does work.  

 

The same way Houston won half their games this past season.

[MacDee1975]

43 minutes ago, ArmchairQB said:

Stroud had one dominant game against TB where he went for 470 yards and 5 TD’s with no picks.  You take that game away he passed for 3800/18/5.  Not crazy numbers.  He doesn’t turn the ball over much and he is accurate but he’s still a young QB that has trouble reading defenses.  Doesn’t mean he won’t get better but there is no reason to believe we wont compete.  We did this year with Gardner Minshew.  
 

Also Demeco Ryans had two games without his franchise QB and got blown out in one and the other one was a last minute come back win against Tennessee.  As stated earlier in the thread let’s see how he does when he has to face real difficulties.

 

Much easier to stand out when 60% of the league was without their starting qb this past season.

 

Ryans is a cheerleader who is about as much in tune to Houston's offense as Campbell is to Detroits.  Less so, because Campbell actually played offense. Both those squads better hope their OCs never leave.

[Stephen]

3 hours ago, ruf said:

it looks like the way the mock drafts are going its going the go Offense pretty heavy which would mean by pick 15 there should be some decent picks on the D side of the ball

We need offense first the rules limit defenses 

[Solid84]

9 hours ago, DavePSL said:

I'm tired of listening to Ballard talk up average WR's and loaded TE rooms.

Talking up 6th and 7th round WRs is kind of a Colts tradition at this point.

 

We need gamechangers.

[VikingsFanInChennai]

8 hours ago, MacDee1975 said:

 

Once Slowik leaves, likely after next season, Stroud won't have his pick wide open receivers to throw to, with tons of time in the pocket to do so, any longer.  The scheme is what makes Houston dangerous, not the qb.  He'll still be a good qb post Slowik, but in no way shape or form is he "special".  Put him on Carolina and he sucks just as bad as Young did.  Slowik is the brains behind that entire operation.  If Houston is ever gonna do anything, it better be next year before Slowik leaves.

 

Not to mention Houston won't be playing a last place schedule next year.  They'll actually have to play against top defenses next season.   And you saw how well Slowik/Stroud was able to handle Baltimore's defense in the playoffs.

Spoken like a God on what will happen to Houston, just like scripture prophecy.

 

Or is it wishful thinking? 🤔

 

Or just the hatred of seeing Houston rising up the ranks so fast?

 

Yes, Stroud struggled against Ravens, Jets and in early games including against Colts... But, that's what is usually called as rookie struggles, and it's real. Especially with an average roster around him, and with all the injuries in his first year with a team that repeatedly picked top 10 in Draft, while learning to play against different NFL defenses.

 

Yes, it will be a tough schedule next year. But, he's shown enough already to confirm that he can survive if his OC has to leave, especially by then he'll have 2 years of NFL experience.

 

On the same line of thought, we don't know if Slowik can produce similar success without Stroud. 

[VikingsFanInChennai]

On 1/11/2024 at 6:55 AM, tweezy32 said:

What would yall do if MHj fell to us and we passed up on him lol.. 

 

i know it’s not happening but what would yall do if that did?!

Replying with another reply

On 1/10/2024 at 10:18 PM, DEColtsLover36 said:

 go throw eggs at stuff and cry in a corner somewhere lol 

 

[Old Colt]

On 1/9/2024 at 6:16 PM, Indianapolis-Colts-Fan said:

.......however I don’t see Ballard doing this. He will do what he always does. 

Trade back for 5th round picks and sit on the available salary cap space he has for a rainy day...  

[MikeCurtis]

I personally hope they don’t trade any of the current starters

 

We need to sign Grover, Blackmon Kenny M 

 

If Minshew wants 10m he needs to go as well

 

I think I would let every other FA go

 

We need to cut MAC

 

We need a FA or two at DE and FS

 

We can fill WR, CB, LB in draft

[2006Coltsbestever]

On 1/9/2024 at 6:05 PM, ruf said:

haven't been on in a while so looking forward to give some thoughts after the disapointing loss.

 

Gus the DC it looks like will remain therefore one of two things: we need to draft for the D and it should be at #15 the best DE on the board--resign GS and KMII as well as Blackmon--and 2nd round should go LB and 3rd FS--the rest of  the draft should be best players for either side of the ball--if we resign Pittman now with this in mind we can fix the D enough while thinking that with AR back it will even things out

 

the other thought would be to go top 3 draft picks O and just hope we can outscore everybody-- #15 best WR and they should be some good one--2ndrd maybe a stud OG if one there 3rd maybe another OL maybe OT--we want to give AR the best chance to pass or with JT and him to run--

 

AR will improve the O as is with Pitt back--so the question is and i think we should do one or the other---should we fix the D or outscore everyone on O

[Myles]

1 hour ago, MikeCurtis said:

I personally hope they don’t trade any of the current starters

 

We need to sign Grover, Blackmon Kenny M 

 

If Minshew wants 10m he needs to go as well

 

I think I would let every other FA go

 

We need to cut MAC

 

We need a FA or two at DE and FS

 

We can fill WR, CB, LB in draft

I disagree with the bolded one.   We need to keep Minshew.   He knows the offense, is a good guy to have on the team and is needed if AR misses time.

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

5 hours ago, Old Colt said:

Trade back for 5th round picks and sit on the available salary cap space he has for a rainy day...  

 

well ya need a rainy day fund so you can not sign a corner when all your guys go down with injury. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

26 minutes ago, Myles said:

I disagree with the bolded one.   We need to keep Minshew.   He knows the offense, is a good guy to have on the team and is needed if AR misses time.

I also think we need to keep Minshew. Lets say AR misses 4 games. Minshew can go 2-2 in those 4 and we would not lose any ground. I trust him to at least do that. 

[MikeCurtis]

29 minutes ago, Myles said:

I disagree with the bolded one.   We need to keep Minshew.   He knows the offense, is a good guy to have on the team and is needed if AR misses time.

I truly want to keep Minshew

 

I want $5 million Minshew

I don’t want $10 million Minshew

[Old Colt]

33 minutes ago, Indianapolis-Colts-Fan said:

 

well ya need a rainy day fund so you can not sign a corner when all your guys go down with injury. 

Like this year

[MacDee1975]

16 hours ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

Spoken like a God on what will happen to Houston, just like scripture prophecy.

 

Or is it wishful thinking? 🤔

 

Or just the hatred of seeing Houston rising up the ranks so fast?

 

Yes, Stroud struggled against Ravens, Jets and in early games including against Colts... But, that's what is usually called as rookie struggles, and it's real. Especially with an average roster around him, and with all the injuries in his first year with a team that repeatedly picked top 10 in Draft, while learning to play against different NFL defenses.

 

Yes, it will be a tough schedule next year. But, he's shown enough already to confirm that he can survive if his OC has to leave, especially by then he'll have 2 years of NFL experience.

 

On the same line of thought, we don't know if Slowik can produce similar success without Stroud. 

 

 

Rising up the ranks so fast?  They weren't exactly the SF 49ers out there in 2023.  They were no better than we were, which was pretty average.  

 

And they did so with a "special" qb, whereas we did so with a backup.  Stroud hasn't shown anything to confirm he can survive if Slowik leaves;  he's never played for anyone but Slowik.

[Stephen]

On 1/10/2024 at 11:08 AM, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

You all want Bradley fired because the defense was so beat up but yet want to invest heavily on offense. That makes zero sense.

Best defense  is an elite offense  we can go defense in round  2 and 3 but in the first we need a legit number 1 wr. A receiver that is a threat to score every play. A wr that isn't 111th out of 118th at getting  open versus man to man coverage  looking at you pierce. A wr that will make the catch when double covered on third down.

[Moosejawcolt]

On 1/31/2024 at 9:33 PM, ArmchairQB said:

Stroud had one dominant game against TB where he went for 470 yards and 5 TD’s with no picks.  You take that game away he passed for 3800/18/5.  Not crazy numbers.  He doesn’t turn the ball over much and he is accurate but he’s still a young QB that has trouble reading defenses.  Doesn’t mean he won’t get better but there is no reason to believe we wont compete.  We did this year with Gardner Minshew.  
 

Also Demeco Ryans had two games without his franchise QB and got blown out in one and the other one was a last minute come back win against Tennessee.  As stated earlier in the thread let’s see how he does when he has to face real difficulties.

Stroud looked good and no denying that. However, it is a new offence that they build around Stroud and I have read where it is not to complex. Teams are now going to go through the tape in the offseason and dissect it.  The 2nd year is going to give us more of an idea who of these qbs are legit. Way to early to call any of these guys stars.

[Solid84]

On 2/2/2024 at 8:34 PM, Moosejawcolt said:

Stroud looked good and no denying that. However, it is a new offence that they build around Stroud and I have read where it is not to complex. Teams are now going to go through the tape in the offseason and dissect it.  The 2nd year is going to give us more of an idea who of these qbs are legit. Way to early to call any of these guys stars.

I agree, but you have to factor the whole playbook probably wasn't open yet to Stroud either. There'll be tape on him, but he'll have new tricks.