Why we didn't take a cb late

[ALuck>RG3]

We didnt get who we wanted in third. I think we didn't take one later on becuz we too rucker and thomas late and they werent very good so why why try again right

[Fr33UpFr33ney]

I don't think we Know Thomas and Rucker aren't good yet.

Also, If minnifield didn't have knee problems, we might have taken him.

And we probably thought Fleeming would drop to the 4th round.

Corner just didn't work out like we wanted and so we went with the best guy son the boards and guys the coaches have physically meet and watched workout.

[The Peytonator]

A late pick is worth about the same as picking up a scrub that another team releases. Rucker and Thomas could excel in a new scheme that doesn't demand that they give up easy catches on every dropback.

[Gavin]

A late pick is worth about the same as picking up a scrub that another team releases. Rucker and Thomas could excel in a new scheme that doesn't demand that they give up easy catches on every dropback.

Dennard wasnt exactly a scrub or Minnifield

[Fr33UpFr33ney]

BTW, Kevin Thomas was a third rounder, not a late pick

[funktacious2]

Hey, let's not focus on all the negatives. The fact of the matter is we weren't going to solve all of our problems this draft anyways. At the TE position Eldridge just wasn't going to get it done for us so we nabbed the two best TEs in the draft. That's a steal, and from the draft grades I'm seeing, most outside perspectives seem to agree. There's not doubt we could use an upgrade at the corner position, and Pagano and Grigson don't even try to hide that. We lost out on getting a franchise CB, but got some victories at other positions.

And hey, even if maybe we end up losing a lot of games due to sloppy defense, at least we'll probably have some sweet offensive highlight on Sports Center

to boast about. lol

[ruksak]

I think our defense will surprise people in 2012. Our DB's from 2011 hand their hands tied. What must they have been thinking when their coaches demanded they play off the receiver by 10-12 yards?

[HtownColt]

defense cant be any worse than last year only way is up..and a enthusiastic defensive coach he will have these guys playing in the new scheme(old scheme was for hs teams) just pay attention to the preseason and you will get a glimpse of how it might look going into the season

[stonehart1234]

I hope this years colts are like last years 49ers!!!

[Dr. T]

Dennard wasnt exactly a scrub or Minnifield

We needed a cover corner and there were none left. Dennard is the off-the-field nightmare and Minnifield is a cover-2 CB. Don't get me wrong, Minnifield has talent, but he's from the wrong scheme and gets dinged up.

[bahhummbug]

I don't think we Know Thomas and Rucker aren't good yet.

Also, If minnifield didn't have knee problems, we might have taken him.

And we probably thought Fleeming would drop to the 4th round.

Corner just didn't work out like we wanted and so we went with the best guy son the boards and guys the coaches have physically meet and watched workout.

I totally agree about Rucker and Thomas too many are judging them on the Tampa 2 scheme.Lets see what they can do in man first.IMO i like Ruckers size for CB alot of tall receivers and TEs can play jump ball against most corners these days.And if you had someone minus Webb Boykins or Muggsy to jump for you,your going to lose.

[mvbighead]

I look at it like this, we take a CB this year, and we're "stuck" with him for 3-4 years. Right now, we've left open some pretty big holes that we can fill with 1st and 2nd round picks next year. BPA was definitely a good move in a draft where you have lots of needs.

As it is now, we've got a solid start, and we've left the CB positions up for grabs. Hopefully one of our guys proves to be a solid corner. Come next year, we'll have open spots and corner might be worth a number 1 pick at that time.

[Flash7]

A lot of us mentioned all throughout last year that part of the overall problem was that the offense kept going 3-and out. The defense had no time to rest and played practically the entire game. This resulted in many poor performances, coupled with a horrible scheme. This year with an improvement on offense, our defense will also improve. Yes, we didn't draft a corner, but it's not as bad as some make it out to be. We will be much more improved.

[chad72]

Grigson said that once the CBs he wanted (mainly Casey Hayward that went 2 picks prior to us getting Dwayne Allen, and Asa Jackson that went 1 pick before we picked Vic Ballard) were off the board, the rest were all rated backups with not much starter potential. The offensive players were rated much higher, according to him. My gripe is not the CB position, just the fact that we could have picked up LBs and DLs for run downs in a run happy division that is going to run it down your throat. RBs are always available in the UDFA market, and in this WR draft, WRs like Dwight Jones and Jeff Fuller were still there in the UDFA market. That is my only gripe with the late RB and WR pick that I felt were more luxury picks.

[BOTT]

Grigson said that once the CBs he wanted (mainly Casey Hayward that went 2 picks prior to us getting Dwayne Allen, and Asa Jackson that went 1 pick before we picked Vic Ballard) were off the board, the rest were all rated backups with not much starter potential. The offensive players were rated much higher, according to him. My gripe is not the CB position, just the fact that we could have picked up LBs and DLs for run downs in a run happy division that is going to run it down your throat. RBs are always available in the UDFA market, and in this WR draft, WRs like Dwight Jones and Jeff Fuller were still there in the UDFA market. That is my only gripe with the late RB and WR pick that I felt were more luxury picks.

me thinks it was asa jackson not hayward..but i could be wrong

[Bad Dog]

All the corners in the late rounds had a missing element one looks for. Either not big enough, or fast enough, etc. None had all the elements.Should be plenty of corner free agents to choose from.

[chad72]

me thinks it was asa jackson not hayward..but i could be wrong

Pagano referred to one of them 2 picks before we picked. Then Grigson referred to, just one spot before we picked.

So, it was both, IMO. Casey Hayward targetted for no.65 (went 63) and Asa Jackson targetted for No.170 (went 169).

[MAC]

I think our defense will surprise people in 2012. Our DB's from 2011 hand their hands tied. What must they have been thinking when their coaches demanded they play off the receiver by 10-12 yards?

The Tampa-2 mantra is obviously to limit the big plays and try to force an error with the pass rush. We've seen it work - including all the way to the SB just the prior year despite a cascade of DB injuries. It's reasonable to assume that the team consciously chose the lessor of two evils (short completions instead of 80 yard bombs) because the DBs were suspect, not because the coaches were blathering ignoramuses. Throwing first year DBs into the fire is always a half-hazard proposition. People forget that by all rights the starting back four last year should have still been Hayden/Jackson/Sanders/Bethea, with Powers/Bullitt in reserve. Thomas/Rucker - if they had even seen the need to draft either of them - would have been learning the game on a PT basis, and Lacey might not have even been on the squad.

But I also think that both Thomas and Rucker showed a lot of potential. Hopefully they will continue to improve. I'm just saying that they would have improved under the old coaching staff as well.

[DG1]

I think our defense will surprise people in 2012. Our DB's from 2011 hand their hands tied. What must they have been thinking when their coaches demanded they play off the receiver by 10-12 yards?

Ding, ding, ding! You are correct! Please choose your category...

I will take "Horrible defensive schemes that kill talent for $1000 Alex".

[DG1]

The Tampa-2 mantra is obviously to limit the big plays and try to force an error with the pass rush. We've seen it work - including all the way to the SB just the prior year despite a cascade of DB injuries. It's reasonable to assume that the team consciously chose the lessor of two evils (short completions instead of 80 yard bombs) because the DBs were suspect, not because the coaches were blathering ignoramuses. Throwing first year DBs into the fire is always a half-hazard proposition. People forget that by all rights the starting back four last year should have still been Hayden/Jackson/Sanders/Bethea, with Powers/Bullitt in reserve. Thomas/Rucker - if they had even seen the need to draft either of them - would have been learning the game on a PT basis, and Lacey might not have even been on the squad.

But I also think that both Thomas and Rucker showed a lot of potential. Hopefully they will continue to improve. I'm just saying that they would have improved under the old coaching staff as well.

Good point. I have and always will hate the Tampa "bend but don't break" 2.

The coaching staff must like what they see in our DB's or they would have drafted more earlier IMO.

[coltsfanatic24]

lacey was the problem last year in our secondary. he's gone now and i expect rucker to start opposite powers. we got pagano mainly for how great he uses his secondary. with the addition of redding,mcckinney,zbikowski, our defense will improve tremendously.

[thebishop1101]

I think our best hope for a #2 CB is Michael Jenkins from the Cowboys. I think we could get him cheap, and even if he's not the best, It would still be worth it to try... heck Asante Samuel went for a 7th rounder. Why couldn't we have jumped on that? I'm sure its money related.

[Gavin]

Money Im sure, besides after this season we should be set up pretty nicely to take care of more needs if not the rest of our needs we will see, until then just enjoy the game and pray we dont see another 62-7 beating we got

[Bad Dog]

The defense last year wasn't designed to stay on the field for long periods of time. It was Dungy's defense. Light and quick. I think that will change this year. Especially interesting is moving Freeney and Mathis to LB. You'll see lots of blitzing from these two. I think the defense will be surprising, even though weak at corner, but IMO not that weak. Colts signed a couple of free agents who might be able to play in the NFL.