Training camp July 28th

[AKB]

Just now, MacDee1975 said:

 

Well, the secondary sucked last year and Ballard refused to address it during the offseason.....so my guess is it's a sign of the secondary.

 

what about some Greg Toler action?

 

 

[MacDee1975]

4 hours ago, chrisfarley said:

What will the loss of Sampson mean?  (Looks bad, don't want to speculate on the exact injury, but we know the drill and our luck, let's say he's out for the year)

 

Get a grip

[krunk]

Who really expects the secondary to be lights out by day 3? Come on man! The defense just won the day yesterday and y'all had nothing to say. Long way to go.

[RollerColt]

5 minutes ago, krunk said:

Who really expects the secondary to be lights out by day 3? Come on man! The defense just won the day yesterday and y'all had nothing to say. Long way to go.

I’d like to see how we fare during those joint practices and the pre-season games. It won’t tell the whole story of how we’ll look, but it will give us a bit bigger of a window to peer through.

[Stephen]

1 hour ago, twfish said:

As someone who literally jumped off the couch and yelled when we drafted Mitchell, don’t write Pierce off just yet. It’s not like he was a bad, he was asked to do a lot of dirty, thankless work and never complained about it. He has a ton of tools and he’s hitting year 3 when most guys make the leap to be a difference maker. Plus Pierce has the speed to actually utilize AR’s arm. It will be a good battle and can see them splitting reps but I don’t think Mitchell supplants Pierce as quickly as some think.

He will in the redzone

[CR91]

Some notes I've observed from tweets and watching videos from colts media (I'm not at camp sorry)

 

- AR looks healthy, decisive, and making all the throws. He's going through his progression and hitting multiple different WRs. 

 

- RPO with Taylor is gonna be very difficult to stop especially with Downs consistently in motion to add even more options for defensives to have to account for.

 

- WRs seem to be having their way especially Pitt, AD, and Downs. Pierce unfortunately I haven't heard much. 

 

- DLs have had "sacks". Paye and Latu have been mentioned a lot. Ebukam as well. Hopefully his injury isn't serious. We'll know more when the pads come on.

[CR91]

Not a good look for Pierce, but nice job by Simpson. Seems like he's playing CB not S like some predicted.

 

 

[NewColtsFan]

4 hours ago, MacDee1975 said:

 

Well, the secondary sucked last year and Ballard refused to address it during the offseason.....so my guess is it's a sign of the secondary.

Thats an interesting perspective.  
 

Mine is somewhat different.   The secondary was supposed to suck last year as rookies and other inexperienced players were allowed to learn on the job.   Replacing all of them this year defeats the point of playing them last year.  Now you want to see how much better they are.   

And Ballard added a safety, and 2 corners in rounds 5 and 6.   They’re not sexy but I haven’t read anything negative about them yet. 
 

plus…. Ballard’s history is that if his young players don’t look good enough in training camp, then he’s willing to sign to sign someone around cutdown day.  
 

Maybe Gilmore?   Maybe Simmons or Diggs?   The Colts still have options.  
 

Perhaps some food for thought? 

[Archer]

3 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

Thats an interesting perspective.  
 

Mine is somewhat different.   The secondary was supposed to suck last year as rookies and other inexperienced players were allowed to learn on the job.   Replacing all of them this year defeats the point of playing them last year.  Now you want to see how much better they are.   

And Ballard added a safety, and 2 corners in rounds 5 and 6.   They’re not sexy but I haven’t read anything negative about them yet. 
 

plus…. Ballard’s history is that if his young players don’t look good enough in training camp, then he’s willing to sign to sign someone around cutdown day.  
 

Maybe Gilmore?   Maybe Simmons or Diggs?   The Colts still have options.  
 

Perhaps some food for thought? 

I think that many fans are fine with the notion of adding developmental players with good traits like Flowers, Jones, American Speed, and Simpson.  But then there is no stomach amongst those fans for the actual development process.  It often entails a year or two of looking inconsistent and meh.  If it works out, they make jumps in their play from year to year.  We went with a lot of those guys at CB last year, and it showed.  But GMs know that replacing those guys because they’re not solid starters in Year 1 is a waste of precious resources.

[Solid84]

I just want to see improvement from the secondary. The Colts have been 28th in points allowed in both ‘22 and ‘23. 
 

I get the “young guys need to learn” argument, but at some point they actually need to improve. The Colts won’t be going anywhere if the secondary keeps having more holes than swiss cheese. 

[Yoshinator]

5 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

Thats an interesting perspective.  
 

Mine is somewhat different.   The secondary was supposed to suck last year as rookies and other inexperienced players were allowed to learn on the job.   Replacing all of them this year defeats the point of playing them last year.  Now you want to see how much better they are.   

And Ballard added a safety, and 2 corners in rounds 5 and 6.   They’re not sexy but I haven’t read anything negative about them yet. 
 

plus…. Ballard’s history is that if his young players don’t look good enough in training camp, then he’s willing to sign to sign someone around cutdown day.  
 

Maybe Gilmore?   Maybe Simmons or Diggs?   The Colts still have options.  
 

Perhaps some food for thought? 

I wouldn't mind all of this if Ballard drafted a CB in round 1 or traded for an elite CB while developing all the young CBs. He didn't though, so the position sucked last year and was essentially punted on. Even if there was no injuries, I don't think it would have been too much of an improvement. 

 

This year it's the FS position. Scott got hurt, but he was mostly a depth piece. We are asking whether we will sign Simmons or Diggs. If we do, then how long will it take and will they miss training camp and/or preseason to gain chemistry with the team and learn the playbook? If we don't, then we are knowingly repeating the same mistake last year, except at the S position this time. This isn't Madden where we can just start young players and they'll develop over time no matter how good they are.

 

This team is in great shape right now, and I don't want the secondary ruining this team anymore. 

[Yoshinator]

29 minutes ago, Solid84 said:

I just want to see improvement from the secondary. The Colts have been 28th in points allowed in both ‘22 and ‘23. 
 

I get the “young guys need to learn” argument, but at some point they actually need to improve. The Colts won’t be going anywhere if the secondary keeps having more holes than swiss cheese. 

Yep. If you think about it, the secondary was probably the difference between making and missing the playoffs. It has gotten to the point where it's the difference from contending or not because our weakness against the pass is so obvious. That needs to be fixed. 

[Hoose]

I don’t think there’s any question that Ballard is gambling at FS. He’s been clear that he wants to see the existing corps of players in action before making any decisions about adding a FA. My concern is that he waits too long before pulling the trigger. I’ve been pretty vocal about getting Simmons in here if he’s willing to come. Still hopeful that happens. And soon. 

The Colts’ FS issue is different from the CB one, where we had an injury plagued year in ‘23 forcing the rookies onto the field before they were ready. Unlike the FS position, there is starter talent in the CB room, and I think Ballard was smart to go with what they have. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Nick cross and Thomas are in their 3rd year.  I don’t think they have much improvement left. I could understand if they were going into their second year. You expect improvement in year 2. We also have no depth at safety. Let’s just hope Simmons and diggs quit holding out soon and make a choice. 

[Yoshinator]

25 minutes ago, Hoose said:

I don’t think there’s any question that Ballard is gambling at FS. He’s been clear that he wants to see the existing corps of players in action before making any decisions about adding a FA. My concern is that he waits too long before pulling the trigger. I’ve been pretty vocal about getting Simmons in here if he’s willing to come. Still hopeful that happens. And soon. 

The Colts’ FS issue is different from the CB one, where we had an injury plagued year in ‘23 forcing the rookies onto the field before they were ready. Unlike the FS position, there is starter talent in the CB room, and I think Ballard was smart to go with what they have. 

Yep, that's my concern as well. All that has to happen is a FS gets hurt in training camp and a team can sign Simmons or Diggs. Ironically, Brandon Jones has an injury for the Broncos already. If it ends up being severe, the Broncos could sign Simmons back. That's all it takes. 

 

Ballard has proven to be conservative and patient in the past on hoping young players improve, which is why there's doubt in my eyes he'll sign a veteran FA to fix the FS position. IMO, it'll take another injury or two, or we'll wait too long and miss our opportunity once a different team has an injury, and that team can promise them a starting spot for the year.

[Yoshinator]

21 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Nick cross and Thomas are in their 3rd year.  I don’t think they have much improvement left. I could understand if they were going into their second year. You expect improvement in year 2. We also have no depth at safety. Let’s just hope Simmons and diggs quit holding out soon and make a choice. 

Yeah, I agree. Our leverage right now is we could offer Simmons or Diggs a one-year contract and guarantee them the starting role at FS. I'm guessing Ballard isn't willing to offer that or one of them would sign with us. Right now, there's no definite player that is a hit at FS. I would bite the bullet and offer Simmons or Diggs a one-year contract with the starting job so they can rebuild their value for another contract. Would be beneficial for both sides. 

 

I get we are trying to gather information about our players before making a move, but so is every other team. It's a game of cat and mouse, and there are only so many good options available.

[richard pallo]

14 minutes ago, Yoshinator said:

Yeah, I agree. Our leverage right now is we could offer Simmons or Diggs a one-year contract and guarantee them the starting role at FS. I'm guessing Ballard isn't willing to offer that or one of them would sign with us. Right now, there's no definite player that is a hit at FS. I would bite the bullet and offer Simmons or Diggs a one-year contract with the starting job so they can rebuild their value for another contract. Would be beneficial for both sides. 

 

I get we are trying to gather information about our players before making a move, but so is every other team. It's a game of cat and mouse, and there are only so many good options available.

I agree.  The crazy thing is if we get another injury to Cross for example or one of our other safeties then the leverage now goes to the FA safety.  Just put the matter to rest and sign one of them.

[throwing BBZ]

On 7/27/2024 at 10:33 PM, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

4 pm 

 

 

 I am inspired by Jim Bob.

 And Downs.

 And rooting for Juju.

  Our entire back seven leaked like a seive last season. They worked poorly as a unit, and we had people on the field at times with low overall ceilings.

  We still lack experience playing together (smart) and no one addition will make a substantial difference this season. We do have a safety room with plenty of guys worth developing. 

 Sorry folks but our D is a work in progress and maybe next season the unit will have enough experience playing together so that they have many fewer screw ups dropping coverages. Ballard has one corner (Flowers-achilles) with the deep speed to play man on the deep throws. Come on pass rush!

[CR91]

Ok Alec

 

 

[IndyEV]

  17 hours ago,  chrisfarley said:

What will the loss of Sampson mean?  (Looks bad, don't want to speculate on the exact injury, but we know the drill and our luck, let's say he's out for the year)

 

Get a grip

 

 

[cdgacoltsfan]

27 minutes ago, CR91 said:

Ok Alec

 

 

I think Alec will have a breakout season this year and surprise the negative Nancies. It appears the naysayers have moved on from whipping Fries and Alec and are focusing on the young DBs this year.

[CR91]

 

 

[AKB]

14 hours ago, krunk said:

Who really expects the secondary to be lights out by day 3? Come on man! The defense just won the day yesterday and y'all had nothing to say. Long way to go.

i don't think anyone expected the secondary to be lights out.. at any point, let alone training camp. 

[RollerColt]

15 hours ago, MacDee1975 said:

 

Get a grip

Jeeze that's a bit harsh isn't it? 

 

The guy is out for the year so it's a valid concern. 

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

On 7/28/2024 at 10:26 PM, MacDee1975 said:

 

Get a grip

this aged well. 

[AKB]

On 7/29/2024 at 8:13 AM, Solid84 said:

I just want to see improvement from the secondary. The Colts have been 28th in points allowed in both ‘22 and ‘23. 
 

I get the “young guys need to learn” argument, but at some point they actually need to improve. The Colts won’t be going anywhere if the secondary keeps having more holes than swiss cheese. 

40 learned today. you know what he learned? spend more time taping his ankles