Andy's Notes from the First Week of Training Camp

[Andy]

The fans finally got to see Andrew Luck perform, and he didn't disapoint. No-names shined when given an oppurtunity, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis seem to be transitioning well, and the Colts-Eagles trade highlight the first week of a great training camp.

Well, why don't we start with the new king in town: Andrew Luck. Here's a stat for you: 122 for 162 (75%), 7 TDs and 5 INTs. That's probably better than a lot of quarterbacks out there, and this is his first real week of the NFL. His passes were perfect, but what impressed me the most were his deep throws. He threw bombs to Donnie Avery, TY Hilton and even Kris Adams. The one part of his game that some critics criticized was his arm strength and deep throw accuracy. That should have completely silenced those naysayers. Also, his improv skills were very good. When the line collapsed, he would get out of the pocket and find a target down the field. He said he wanted to be sort of like Ben Roethlisberger, and that's vintage Big Ben. He did not disappoint, and his teammates and fans showed him love, except when he tried to sing "Country Roads". The only fault was that inside the 10 yard line, he really struggled, throwing no touchdowns and a couple of picks. He looked flustered there, but that's the only negative thing.

The running backs were all pretty solid, except Donald Brown. He barely got any playing time, and when he did, he did nothing. The best back was Vick Ballard, with Delone Carter coming in a close second. Ballard has gotten a lot of praise from the coaches, and I can see why, he's a freaking workhorse. He runs hard every run, and never goes down. There were numerous plays where multiple players were needed to take him down. His cuts also looked good and he wasn't even that slow. I say this in almost every blog now, but I truly believe he will start by midseason. Delone Carter was also very solid, and guess what: HE DIDN'T FUMBLE, and neither did any of the backs in the redzone. He's had 3 touchdowns in the redzone and his blocking has gotten better, something he has over Ballard and even Donald Brown. They have clearly been working on that.

The wide receiver group has been extremely impressive, more impressive than any other group on the team. A few months ago, this was a concern, now I believe it is a strength. Reggie Wayne is Reggie Wayne, although he isn't getting a lot of time on the field. Austin Collie had a hot start to the camp, but has since cooled off and not gotten much playing time. TY Hilton has been very impressive. He's had some bad drops (not many), but he's shown that his hands are solid and his speed is blistering. Donnie Avery has also had an impressive camp; you can make the case that he's having the best camp out of any of the receivers. His speed is clearly back (I watched this guy in college, and with the Rams). His hands have been great, catching 7 passes on the first day and 4 or 5 on the second. He's been great all week.

In my opinion, this is what the receiving core is going to look like. You have Reggie on the left side, Austin in the slot and Avery on the right. TY should be rotating in with Lavon and another player (maybe Allen, or Ross, or Sambrano) playing depth roles. Many of you will be pleasantly with this group.

The offensive line has been inconsistent, but at times, looked very good. Castonzo is showing improvements, but we'll really see how he does against the Rams in a week. Jeff Linkenbach hasn't been horrible, but I do believe that Reitz would be a better fit in there. Samson Satele has been a rock. Mike McGlynn has struggled at times, but he's held his ground in recent days. Winston Justice got in a fight... that's about it.

The defensive line has been quiet, in the sense that nobody (including myself) have been noticing them much. Cory Redding is cleary the most energized player on this defense, hyping everyone up, and that's training camp. Imagine him in a game! Nothing really special here, although Drake Nevis has been transitioning well to his new role.

The linebackers... ahh the linebackers! Pat Angerer has been alright, but the real story is Kavell Conner. He's been getting second team snaps. This could be because of injury worries (although he doesn't have an injury history), or just because he's not ready to start. Moise Fokou has been very impressive! He had some great hits and has been spending time with the first teamers. heck, even Greg Lloyd had some good hits. Conner has been a ghost, in the sense that no one could find him out there. Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis are doing pretty well, but nothing special. I'd say Freeney is performing better than Mathis, but don't think Mathis is performing badly. Also, Jerry Hughes has been impressive, but don't get your hopes up. He was like this last year.

Now, I've been reading people saying that Conner may not start. That could definitely be the case, but I say: wait until the Rams game to start making predictions like that.

The Colts are definitely benefitting from the Fokou-Thomas trade. As mentioned, Fokou and even Lloyd have been solid (Fokou > Llloyd). I have yet to hear about Thomas and the Eagles, but with his bump-and-run, man coverage kind of style, he should do fine in Philadelphia as they are supposedly playing more man coverage.

Back to the Colts, and their secondary. Bethea and Powers are great, as usual, knocking down passes. Since the Thomas trade, the LCB spot has been wide open. The early favorite is Justin King, who has made a nice impression thus far, but he injured his hip flexor on Friday. I've had plenty of hip flexor injuries, and you could play through it. I guess he's sitting out to avoid an even worse injury. Cassius Vaughn is also vying for that spot, but hasn't done anything special yet, and looks to perhaps be playing the nickelback spot, a better spot for him.

However, he did get chippy with Donnie Avery earlier in the week, so that should be to the liking of the aggressive Coach Pagano. It looks like Chris Rucker or Cassius Vaughn will be battling for the nickelback spot. Korey Lindsay has been up and down thus far, but mostly up. He had 2 picks against Luck earlier in the week and has gotten praise from some of the coaches. His stock is rising. Cameron Chism has been pretty good too.

I'd say the cornerback are:

RCB: Jerraud Powers

LCB: Justin King

NCB: Cassius Vaughn

Many underestimated King, but as mentioned in one of my article from several weeks ago, the kid has talent, and extremely fast.

One last note, Coach Pagano may seem like a calm normal when doing interviews, but I've heard him say some things that let's just say, aren't pretty. A few: "Blitz the * gap" or my personal favorite "Just * throw it Stanton." Don't think he's a bad guy, to the contrary, I love him!

Those are the important notes from Week 1 of training camp. So far, it's been a great camp.

[CR91]

great stuff andy

[CjMcGirt23]

Great Article! Funny that Andrew had been struggling inside the 10 because that was probably his best area in college. What were his numbers? 29 TDS and 0 INTS?

[Andy]

Great Article! Funny that Andrew had been struggling inside the 10 because that was probably his best area in college. What were his numbers? 29 TDS and 0 INTS?

It's because they're running stuff that supposedly he's never seen before. Nothing to worry about, he's a smart kid and will pick up on it.

12 TDs, 0 INTs, 220 rating from 9-GOAL in college.

[WSO]

Good read

[NewColtsFan]

Andy.....

Very nice job.... a respectful suggestion if I may.... early in your article you assert that what you saw Luck do should silence those naysayers regarding arm strength... etc, etc.

I submit to you this.... nothing that you see in a team's practice should ever be viewed as proof positive of proof of anything.

Really. Seriously.

You need to wait to see it in an actual NFL game against actual NFL defenses before it's proof positive and silence any naysayers... Even seeing in an NFL Pre-season game isn't enough proof. And seeing it in a practice is FAR from proof.

Wait. Patience. It either will or won't be shown in an actual game that counts. But proclaiming it so because you were there in practice and you saw it with your own eyes is not enough. I'm not singling you out. It's the same for anyone.

It's OK to say Luck looks good and concerns about arm strength appear to be overblown... just don't assert that something you see in practice means everything is great come the regular season.

It **may be so** but it's not proof. Not yet at least.

Again, just a respectful suggestion....

[Andy]

Andy.....

Very nice job.... a respectful suggestion if I may.... early in your article you assert that what you saw Luck do should silence those naysayers regarding arm strength... etc, etc.

I submit to you this.... nothing that you see in a team's practice should ever be viewed as proof positive of proof of anything.

Really. Seriously.

You need to wait to see it in an actual NFL game against actual NFL defenses before it's proof positive and silence any naysayers... Even seeing in an NFL Pre-season game isn't enough proof. And seeing it in a practice is FAR from proof.

Wait. Patience. It either will or won't be shown in an actual game that counts. But proclaiming it so because you were there in practice and you saw it with your own eyes is not enough. I'm not singling you out. It's the same for anyone.

It's OK to say Luck looks good and concerns about arm strength appear to be overblown... just don't assert that something you see in practice means everything is great come the regular season.

It **may be so** but it's not proof. Not yet at least.

Again, just a respectful suggestion....

Point taken,

That's good to know for future references.

Thanks for sharing.

[TKnight24]

I thought J. King was Hurt????

[Moncrief]

Andy I would pay to read these articles

[Andy]

I thought J. King was Hurt????

He is. I thought I said that in the article.

He injured his hip flexor on Friday.

[Smonroe]

He is. I thought I said that in the article.

He injured his hip flexor on Friday.

You Da Man! Great job! My question is - do our receivers (and Luck) look good because our DBs are so bad, or can you tell they're running clean crisp routes?

This is sort of the opposite question the Jags are having, their O has looked bad in practice and they attribute it to their D being so good. That may be wishful thinking.

[Michael Lebron]

Great Article....

New totals for Luck or 12 TD'S 5 INT

Agreed.... Our receiving core has potential to be as explosive as the year Wayne, Harrison, Stokley all had double digit TD'S and a 1000 yards receiving.

The only thing I would disagree with is our DL play. These guys have been solid. They have gotten to the QB and looked pretty solid against the run the 3 days I have been at camp.

[HungarianColtsFan]

Good to hear fan's take from the TC. Thank You Andy for sharing Your experiences!

Seems like Or O-line will be fine, and I think our D-line is better than many may think, however we have to develop a lot on both side of the ball.

I hope everything will be set by the start of the regular season.

[Dr. T]

Thanks so much Andy for doing this. This kind of info is just what hungry Colts fan (like me) want to hear.

One Question: How are the NTs doing? The Star has been giving Mookie some love recently, but I don't see how can he can be effective as a NT. He just doesn't seem big enough. How has my boy Chigbo doing? Is he getting any reps at NT and if so, what do you see? Thanks again!

[Dan]

7 TDs 5 INTs (or now, 12-5) is an unreliable figure, not just because it's only camp, but because they didn't count TD figures for one day which was all red-zone work. They still counted INTs though (there were one or two) but decided counting TDs was pointless when most passes ended up as scores.

[mvbighead]

Andy.....

Very nice job.... a respectful suggestion if I may.... early in your article you assert that what you saw Luck do should silence those naysayers regarding arm strength... etc, etc.

I submit to you this.... nothing that you see in a team's practice should ever be viewed as proof positive of proof of anything.

Really. Seriously.

You need to wait to see it in an actual NFL game against actual NFL defenses before it's proof positive and silence any naysayers... Even seeing in an NFL Pre-season game isn't enough proof. And seeing it in a practice is FAR from proof.

Wait. Patience. It either will or won't be shown in an actual game that counts. But proclaiming it so because you were there in practice and you saw it with your own eyes is not enough. I'm not singling you out. It's the same for anyone.

It's OK to say Luck looks good and concerns about arm strength appear to be overblown... just don't assert that something you see in practice means everything is great come the regular season.

It **may be so** but it's not proof. Not yet at least.

Again, just a respectful suggestion....

I could see a point about something that isn't a fool proof measure. Passer rating and the like, which ultimately depends on the quality of the teams you are facing.

Arm strength, however, is a tangible asset. If a guy can throw it 50 yards today, he can likely throw it 50 yards tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after. He either can, or he can't. I for one have no qualms about Luck's arm strength. Accuracy is far more important, as where is the strongest arm in the NFL? (Jamarcus Russel is no longer in the league.)

All that aside, I tend to disagree with your logic. Andrew has plenty strong of an arm for Sundays. He was drafted 1st overall for crying out loud. You think a team would do that if he couldn't throw every ball required of him?

[dw49]

I could see a point about something that isn't a fool proof measure. Passer rating and the like, which ultimately depends on the quality of the teams you are facing.

Arm strength, however, is a tangible asset. If a guy can throw it 50 yards today, he can likely throw it 50 yards tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after. He either can, or he can't. I for one have no qualms about Luck's arm strength. Accuracy is far more important, as where is the strongest arm in the NFL? (Jamarcus Russel is no longer in the league.)

All that aside, I tend to disagree with your logic. Andrew has plenty strong of an arm for Sundays. He was drafted 1st overall for crying out loud. You think a team would do that if he couldn't throw every ball required of him?

The above is true and evidence woud be things like Jeff George and Sam Bradford moving to pick # 1.1 after their pre draft workouts. If a guy has a strong arm , it's certainly not going to "disappear" when he faces true NFL competition. His ability to be a good QB ? Yes but not arm strength.

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

Thanks sooo much being in California nice to hear how things are going!! :yes: I kind of like Rucker how has he been?

[dgambill]

Some good info. Seems like Luck is really challenging himself. I like him to test his abilities to see what kind of windows he can fit it into. Get into game situation hopefully he can realize what he can and can't do at the NFL level (at this stage in his career).

As far as Ballard I agree with you Andy. I just see his size and his power and his vision and ability to hit the hole hard and fast and feel he is a better fit for the Arians running game then Brown. I see Brown as that home run like threat they had with Parker in Pittsburgh but I believe Ballard will make it into the starting line up some point as well this season. Nothing against Brown...I think he still has qualities to be a good back...but he no longer fits our offense the same as before. Before we ran a lot of zone blocking and stretch plays to the outside...focus on speed and getting to the corner...now we will focus on hard up inside runs that Vick was so adapt at in Miss. State at running. If he can take care of the ball...Vick should see plenty of playing time.

Still looks like the OL has a lot of improving to do. I was hopeful...and I still have hope...but I'm getting more of a STL./Jacksonville vibe from them. Can run block...but pass protection is going to struggle and Luck like Sam and Blaine is going to have to think and throw under pressure a lot.

[Vinny BoomBatz]

Nice read Andy thanks!

[Fx Stryker]

Our receiving core has potential to be as explosive as the year Wayne, Harrison, Stokley all had double digit TD'S and a 1000 yards receiving.

LOL.

[MrNLM]

Hahaha. I read this last night and forgot everything by the time I woke up. I had to read it again! Now that I have jogged my memory it was a good read the 2nd time around as well.

My boss has been a life long Rams fan and he is pretty adamant about King being a bust. I admit his play in STL was lacking but I think he was a good value pickup in a depleted core of CBs. I would love to rub it in my boss's face if he happens to make some fireworks for us on the field.

This season, I am looking forward to watching mainly the offense go through its trials. Next year, I am gonna be so amped to see us put more pieces in place to emulate a Steelers/Ravens type defense.

Makes me wonder if we as fans will be able to see any impressions left by Dungy's regime. We are gonna be down right NASTY!

[Coltsfanman1953]

Have you heard anything about Mario Harvey?

[Dan]

Today has been pretty dodgy, if you guys aren't keeping up. O-line has been falling apart causing several rushed off target passes.