Colts Select Laiatu Latu Edge UCLA

[Solid84]

34 minutes ago, stitches said:

I just want to point out that Ballard again told us the truth in his pre-draft presser. His answer to the question of whether he has changed anything in his draft philosophy, pretty much explains the Latu pick in view of him being a bit of a departure from what he's usually done (i.e. super high level athleticism, some projection of what the player can be vs what he is now)

 

 

"of course you look for unique talent, unique traits, ...character... but then also... on the flip side of that making sure that we are drafting not only the unique traits but also some substance with the tape"... 

 

So yeah, I think this answer a very good explanation of that pick... "substance with the tape". Not that Latu is not athletic. He is, but his athleticism is not his selling point. The selling point is the substance - the technical refinement, the tape, the production. 

 

With that said... I wonder if we will continue to see that on day 2 and day 3? Can we see one of the Ballard's lowest RAS drafts? 

Quote

"of course you look for unique talent, unique traits, ...character... but then also... on the flip side of that making sure that we are drafting not only the unique traits but also some substance with the tape"... 

This I feel has been his biggest flaw as a drafter and I'd be REALLY happy if they start valuing production more. Hope it's a new trend.

 

He also said they had 4-5 guys with true elite grades and Latu was one of them.

 

Edit: Ballard also mentioned they have a good relationship with Chip Kelly (HC UCLA), so they had a lot of inside information on Latu - explains the lack of meetings.

[RollerColt]

8 minutes ago, r a y s k i said:

Exactly, I started to talk myself into Brian Thomas Jr at 15 and it stings the Jags got him instead but we got an elite talent at a premium position at 15. Could be a steal. 

Yeah, I was thinking of him too. The more I learn about Latu though the more I like. I really hope he becomes a a huge difference maker for us on defense. 

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

11 hours ago, Stephen said:

If if you were expecting  Mathis and freeney 

which I was never hoping for. Dayo has been a success for a 2nd round pick imo, and I like Paye. Might be a bit high for a first rounder but not everyone will be an elite guy. The more I read about Latu the more I like him, though. 

[King Colt]

Winner of the 2023 Ted Hendricks Defensive Player Of The Year Award

[ColtStrong2013]

42 minutes ago, Dingus McGirt said:

Wreak.

Thank you professor. 

[ColtStrong2013]

ESPN depth chart (not that it means anything) has Latu over Ebukam. What are expectations on rotation with him? 

[IinD]

Granted it's obviously a bad injury, but some folks act like he was repaired with paper clips and flex seal. He's already played a couple seasons so it isn't like he's fresh off the injury and we picked him. 

 

I for one am excited to finally have an actual pass rush prospect who was the consensus best edge guy in this draft. 

 

Nobody can control if it's a miss but it's definitely a good swing.

 

 

[el duderino]

ya´ll watch maxx crosby show on youtube - its called "the rush". Latu was on there and they talk for an hour.

[DattMavis]

I think everyone would have loved to get an offensive weapon, but if Latu has 15+ sacks in a year or two, and our defense drastically improves, no one will be complaining. Right before the pick, I told my friend watching the draft with me (Giants fan), "This is going to be a dline player. I just hope it's not Byron Murphy."

Too much offense had gone, and the value wasn't there. No one wanted to trade. Everyone targeted their guy, and they selected them. I said a few weeks ago, I'm tired of us drafting potential at edge, so I was okay with Latu if we had to go that route. I've had a night of sleep and half a day of work to process the pick, and I'm happy with it.

Let's get a weapon, a DB or two, and a little online depth now. 

[richard pallo]

10 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

I saw today the best offer they have had for Deebo was a 4th.

 

 

Have you seen what the WR got paid last two days? Colts can’t afford that 

Yes they can.  Aiyuk will play under the fifth year option this year with the 49er’s.  That’s 14.2m.  They can’t afford and don’t want to give him an extension this year.  Next year they have Purdys extension.  We don’t have to give him an extension either this year.  So fitting under the cap is not a problem.  Sure he wants an extension but that’s what 5th year options are for.  So hopefully Ballard tries for him.

[CR91]

2 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

Yes they can.  Aiyuk will play under the fifth year option this year with the 49er’s.  That’s 14.2m.  They can’t afford and don’t want to give him an extension this year.  Next year they have Purdys extension.  We don’t have to give him an extension either this year.  So fitting under the cap is not a problem.  Sure he wants an extension but that’s what 5th year options are for.  So hopefully Ballard tries for him.

 

Id rather have Deebo. The things Shane could draw up for a AR, Deebo, JT backfield would be downright illegal 

[JColts72]

Thought Turner, Mitchell or Murphy at 15. Need corner badly against WR Texans have 

[Stephen]

22 minutes ago, DattMavis said:

I think everyone would have loved to get an offensive weapon, but if Latu has 15+ sacks in a year or two, and our defense drastically improves, no one will be complaining. Right before the pick, I told my friend watching the draft with me (Giants fan), "This is going to be a dline player. I just hope it's not Byron Murphy."

Too much offense had gone, and the value wasn't there. No one wanted to trade. Everyone targeted their guy, and they selected them. I said a few weeks ago, I'm tired of us drafting potential at edge, so I was okay with Latu if we had to go that route. I've had a night of sleep and half a day of work to process the pick, and I'm happy with it.

Let's get a weapon, a DB or two, and a little online depth now. 

Nah the only way I wouldn't complain is if this happens.  3rd and 12 and Lawrence  drops back to pass and the ball is striped by Latu and recovered by the Colts.The colts beat Jacksonville in Jacksonville  for the first time in years. 30 seconds left in the game and the chiefs are on the Colts 20 yard line.  It is 3rd and 6 and Mahomes needs a td to win the game. Mahomes drops back and is sacked and loses the ball. Latu strips it and the Colts have it. Colts are going to the superbowl.

[Dingus McGirt]

34 minutes ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

Thank you professor. 

I do what I can.  

[Stephen]

1 hour ago, Solid84 said:

This I feel has been his biggest flaw as a drafter and I'd be REALLY happy if they start valuing production more. Hope it's a new trend.

 

He also said they had 4-5 guys with true elite grades and Latu was one of them.

 

Edit: Ballard also mentioned they have a good relationship with Chip Kelly (HC UCLA), so they had a lot of inside information on Latu - explains the lack of meetings.

Hopefully  they get one of the Georgia  defenders as their production is great.

[jvan1973]

13 hours ago, ThorstenDenmark said:

Quite a big IF

No it isn't.   He played 2 seasons since the surgery 

[ColtStrong2013]

It was telling that Mitchell and Arnold fell to 22/24. I don’t think teams viewed them like most on here did. They were not top 10 talent like Gardner, Witherspoon, etc have been in prior years. I think they were drafted accordingly. I don’t think Latu is a reach, I think we lucked into him quite honestly with the amount of offense at the top. I think Mitchell would have been a reach, especially given the circumstances. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

2 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

No it isn't.   He played 2 seasons since the surgery 

The more I looked into it today, I don't think the neck will be an issue. I did some research today on his surgery. If he was going to have nerve problems, he would have had them by now. Peyton ended up having nerve problems in his arm.

[Superman]

1 hour ago, r a y s k i said:

It's definitely 100% wasn't the player I wanted but the more I think about it the more I can't be mad at this pick. We got one of the few elite talents in this draft. Lot depends on these two rounds coming up though

 

He's not the player I wanted, either. I still think it's a good pick.

[James]

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, Superman said:

 

He's not the player I wanted, either. I still think it's a good pick.

When the main 3 Wr's were off the board and Bowers was gone, I was wanting Mitchell or Dallas Turner but I am pretty happy with Latu. So, I can't complain. 

[stitches]

2 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

He's not the player I wanted, either. I still think it's a good pick.

Would you have gone BTJ? 

[Yoshinator]

Just now, 2006Coltsbestever said:

When the main 3 Wr's were off the board and Bowers was gone, I was wanting Mitchell or Dallas Turner but I am pretty happy with Latu. So, I can't complain. 

I'm curious if Ballard tried to trade up for Odunze or Bowers? I find it possible that neither the Falcons nor the Broncos wanted to trade down.

[wig]

After doing hundreds of mocks, if I stayed at 15 and Bowers and Mitchell were gone he was pretty much always the pick.  Without the injury he'd be in the Bosa brothers tier

[richard pallo]

17 minutes ago, CR91 said:

 

Id rather have Deebo. The things Shane could draw up for a AR, Deebo, JT backfield would be downright illegal 

For sure but his cap hit is 28m.  That’s a big problem for most teams at this stage.  That’s why the 4th rd offers I would think.  Would probably need another extension.  For me Aiyuk is the perfect player for us given all the circumstances.  

[2006Coltsbestever]

Just now, Yoshinator said:

I'm curious if Ballard tried to trade up for Odunze or Bowers? I find it possible that neither the Falcons nor the Broncos wanted to trade down.

He may have, when Rome was there at 9, I wondered if he and the Bears had any quick chats. Regarding our pick, I am not a big fan of taking a CB in the 1st round anyway as many in here know, unless he appears to be a Deion or Revis type. We can get a good Corner in the 2nd round.

[wig]

13 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

He may have, when Rome was there at 9, I wondered if he and the Bears had any quick chats. Regarding our pick, I am not a big fan of taking a CB in the 1st round anyway as many in here know, unless he appears to be a Deion or Revis type. We can get a good Corner in the 2nd round.

 

I think he looked at Rome and Bowers. I think Bowers was the guy he thought may be there on the With The Next Pick

[#12.]

1 hour ago, Solid84 said:

This I feel has been his biggest flaw as a drafter and I'd be REALLY happy if they start valuing production more. Hope it's a new trend

 

It's hard to make sense of Ballard's results, to date.  He goes after athletic freaks, but somehow the usual result is just a solid team from top to bottom.  You would think the result would be the opposite.  If you're swinging for the fence every time on athletic freaks, you would think it would result in elite difference makers in certain spots, crap in other spots.  Instead, it's just this steady, solid team: 9-8 for eternity.  

[w87r]

6 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

For sure but his cap hit is 28m.  That’s a big problem for most teams at this stage.  That’s why the 4th rd offers I would think.  Would probably need another extension.  For me Aiyuk is the perfect player for us given all the circumstances.  

His cap hits if traded aren't bad.

 

2024 - $23m

2025 - $17.5m

[stitches]

Something else I want to point out - Ballard is running the tightest of ships. The Colts do NOT leak! I swear I've seen mock drafts with the Colts taking half the players in the first round, I don't think I've seen any of the big draft analysts mock Latu to the Colts. It was all Bowers, Mitchell, Worthy... Turner even... Nobody had Latu. This is second year in a row where the media was guessing completely wrong on the Colts pick. 

[Superman]

32 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

Yes they can.  Aiyuk will play under the fifth year option this year with the 49er’s.  That’s 14.2m.  They can’t afford and don’t want to give him an extension this year.  Next year they have Purdys extension.  We don’t have to give him an extension either this year.  So fitting under the cap is not a problem.  Sure he wants an extension but that’s what 5th year options are for.  So hopefully Ballard tries for him.

 

Aiyuk will not play on the fifth year option. You can take that to the bank.

[Indyfan4life]

For those upset about the pick, he had equal if not better numbers and stats than Bosa. Pick wasn’t sexy like some wanted, but if Latu can get 12+ sacks a season on his own, then it’s a win. 

[ChuggaBeer]

21 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

He's not the player I wanted, either. I still think it's a good pick.

Who would you have taken if you were on the clock in the scenario that played out?

[throwing BBZ]

2 hours ago, smittywerb said:

My bad, you’re right.  I don’t know who stats I was looking at last night lol.  Hennessy will do that. ;(
 

Well, Trey production might’ve been due to him being in a rotation over there in NO before he got to Cincy, with him being a third rounder.  But either way, Trey turned it on year 4.  So you’re right, I’ll give qwitty one more year.  Not saying qwitty is bad, but we do need more from that position.  And it seems Ballard and co agrees as this is his second attempt at trying to upgrade that position this off-season.
 

I agree with the pick, we can’t wait and hope for something when we have an opportunity to possibly upgrade at a premium position and one of the highest paying positions.  Due to the way the draft played out, We had the opportunity to pick the FIRST defensive player off the board, which also mean probably the BEST defensive player on the board (depending on how whoever looks at it).  We don’t know when we’ll have that opportunity if ever again. 
 

 

 

 Paye played a career high 700 snap. He was in a rotation with Ebukam, Dayo, and Lewis. You think he should have played 200 more snaps like Joey Bosa? Bosa had 2 more sacks than Kwity.

[Solid84]

1 minute ago, #12. said:

 

It's hard to make sense of Ballard's results, to date.  He goes after athletic freaks, but somehow the usual result is just a solid team from top to bottom.  You would think the result would be the opposite.  If you're swinging for the fence every time on athletic freaks, you would think it would result in elite difference makers in certain spots, crap in other spots.  Instead, it's just this steady, solid team: 9-8 for eternity.  

I think they've overestimated how much better players get with coaching. I mean, a lot of these guys have been playing football since they were kids and have been coached since then. If the light hasn't come on by the time they get to the NFL why should it all of a sudden happen now?

 

I'm not saying it never happens, because there are numerous examples of it working out, but if a guy has 5 years of college football experience and he's still just relying on being hyper athletic (just an example)....

 

Anyway, let's not let this devolve into Ballard grievances. Go Latu, go Colts!

[Jason_]

14 hours ago, indyagent17 said:

They’re saying he’s one injury away from being out of the NFL. Are you kidding me?

 

Who exactly is saying that?

 

9 hours ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

I haven't paid much attention to the draft and looking OR making mocks 'cause with Ballard you usually will be disappointed...... like most on this Forum are tonight. Lol

 

that seems...inaccurate

 

4 hours ago, csmopar said:

I’m concerned that they never even talked to this guy. Makes me wonder just how thorough they were on his medical

 

 

I'd be far more concerned if they hadn't talked to his doctors.  But Ballard himself said they had a ton of questions for his doctors.  And did they really need to have extensive conversations with him about his health since he played 2 years after having the surgery?

 

4 hours ago, austriancolt said:

On Grigson we....oh wait... on Ballard we trust! Trade down on select one of the two premium CB and get an additional selection. With injury concerns we will see Latu go down with a season ending injury within the first five games. Bet on it we have that kind of luck. Also Ballards track record on Edge players is lousy. 

 

All of the doctors that have spoken, you know...the guys who are educated on this and do it for a living, have all said there are no injury concerns.  The only ones that seem to be concerned about his "injury history" are those that seemingly refuse to believe what those doctors are saying.

 

4 hours ago, Solid84 said:

It seems this injury is mostly about a) if there was and how much nerve damage there was and b) if a patient will recover and how long it'll take to recover. Latu has two years of top college production after the injury. I feel like it's pretty clear there wasn't any nerve damage or he's completely recovered from it.

 

We had nsurg on here saying after the procedure the damaged part of the neck will be the strongest after the fusion.

 

The same thing was also said about Manning after he had the surgery.  Yes, Manning had nerve issues in his shoulder after the surgery, but I don't recall him ever having issues with the neck again.  Still, some fans kept saying the same "he's one play away from retirement" that we're seeing now.

 

2 hours ago, r a y s k i said:

People keep underestimating how Indianapolis keep being in the bottom part of the league in terms of a free agency location. Especially in this "self (digital) promotion" age of the players as well

 

I believe we offered more money to Hunter than anyone else and he choose to play elsewhere

 

Yeah, Hunter himself pretty much said as much.  But it didn't sound like it was about him not wanting to play in Indy as it was about him wanting to play in Houston, which is where he's from.

[richard pallo]

6 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Aiyuk will not play on the fifth year option. You can take that to the bank.

So he is not going to play this year without a new contract?  Even in SF?

[Superman]

19 minutes ago, stitches said:

Would you have gone BTJ? 

 

If there's really no way to trade back, I viewed Dallas Turner as the best guy on the board. It's easy to understand why the Colts had Latu ahead of him. I like Byron Murphy also, but we know what the Colts have done at DT already. I guess BTJ would have been my choice, but I never expected the Colts to draft a WR in the first round. Knowing that everyone feels good about the medicals, Latu makes all the sense in the world.

[CR91]

20 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

For sure but his cap hit is 28m.  That’s a big problem for most teams at this stage.  That’s why the 4th rd offers I would think.  Would probably need another extension.  For me Aiyuk is the perfect player for us given all the circumstances.  

 

Obviously the 49ers would have to eat some of the cap

[superrep1967]

Both Latu and Turner both have the same draft grade of 84. So the Colts must have saw something they liked better than Turner although Turner is the better athlete.