The Trade; the Draft; the Future....

[NewColtsFan]

If I was a member of the Indy media I'd love to ask Grigson this question....

If the Colts finish with a sub-500 record in 2012, will he still be happy with this trade?

I don't think the Colts over-paid, but I think we paid full price. And I'm rarely comfortable with that kind of deal when there are so many other pieces this team needs. Free Agency next spring just got much, much more important. (if that's even possible!)

I also think we've telegraphed a bit (that's OK) that we're going to take an offensive lineman 1st overall next spring. But, I also wouldn't be surprised if we traded BACK/DOWN in the draft to take a lineman, while at the same time pick up a few more needed draft picks. We'll need them.

Even with this trade, I still see the Colts winning 5-7 games. That hasn't changed for me. Believe me, I hope I'm wrong. Nothing would make me happier if we do better.

But, we've got roughly an $80 million dollar payroll. $40 million of 'dead' money. That's 2/3rds of a normal roster. You've seen how hard we've already been hit by injuries. That's not going to change during the course of 17 weeks of the regular season. Injuries will take a huge toll on us.

All in all, it's already been a fascinating pre-season. Much more eventful than I ever expected.

Hang on.... it's going to be wild, bumpy ride!!

[BOTT]

the trade was a no brainer. i don't think grigson even paid full price. highly doubtful there would be a better cb in the 2nd round

[HtownColt]

Yes he would be happy got a 24yr old starting corner with alot of experience starting and 5th in the AFC in interceptions with our 2nd round pick of the draft. And get this: he gets to play for us this year. It's a win in my eyes nothing to complain about on this trade. Your not going to get Amerson or Xavier Rhodes in the second round they will be gone and I'll take Vontae Davis over any other corner left in the draft after them two. all smiles on my end

[bahhummbug]

the trade was a no brainer. i don't think grigson even paid full price. highly doubtful there would be a better cb in the 2nd round

Can you name a guaranteed top 7 cb in nfl in 2013 that will be a rookie?And the price is minimal 900k 1 mill rookie contract? cmon man a no brainer and if we take an ol 1st round with over 50 mill to spend in fa ill be sick

[StewieG]

You make it sound like people are expecting us to be playoff bound with this trade for Davis.

Davis has a lot of talent and should be a major improvement for our secondary.

But thats it. Our team still has many other holes.

[Flash7]

The trade will have an impact on our defense, but perhaps not enough. From what I have seen in our last three preseason games is that we still have issues with the following:

A) Stopping the run

B) Running the ball effectively on offense

C) Inconsistency on the O-line.

D) Inconsistant pass rush

At least we now have two good corners and we can approach the season with some confidence in our secondary. The problem is that in our division, the best player on the Jags is MJD, who will most likely play in time for our game; the best player on the Titans is CJ2K, and Arian Foster is one of the best players on the Texans. We have no answer against good rushing teams and it would be a shame to not have addressed this after years of ineptness.

[Hans Moleman]

Something doesn't have to be cheap to be a bargain.

Davis didn't come cheap, but we got a very solid value on him. He's a bigger talent than most 2nd round prospects (and practically all CB prospects) and is lower risk for us because he's proven at the NFL level. That's a bargain in my book.

Being an ex-DB coach and DC, Pagano's got to be drooling over this pick up. Davis can do it all- cover, play the run, and even blitz effectively in certain situations. He's not perfect, but he's in the perfect situation now to take the next step in his development. And if/when that happens, this trade goes from being a bargain to a steal.

[Hans Moleman]

The trade will have an impact on our defense, but perhaps not enough. From what I have seen in our last three preseason games is that we still have issues with the following:

A) Stopping the run

B) Running the ball effectively on offense

C) Inconsistency on the O-line.

D) Inconsistant pass rush

At least we now have two good corners and we can approach the season with some confidence in our secondary. The problem is that in our division, the best player on the Jags is MJD, who will most likely play in time for our game; the best player on the Titans is CJ2K, and Arian Foster is one of the best players on the Texans. We have no answer against good rushing teams and it would be a shame to not have addressed this after years of ineptness.

We did do one big thing to address the run defense, but that was an investment for the future: Josh Chapman. Give Chapman a year to really recover and get ready and I think he can play up to the value of the 2nd round pick we just traded.

[Flash7]

We did do one big thing to address the run defense, but that was an investment for the future: Josh Chapman. Give Chapman a year to really recover and get ready and I think he can play up to the value of the 2nd round pick we just traded.

I agree with you there. I am very excited to see Chapman. I too think that he has a lot of potential and can make a difference in stopping the run.

I still think that we have to have the mindset that we want to win every game, every week, every year. So until Chapman is back, we still have to find a solution for the interim, given that Chapman really is the solution.

[Hans Moleman]

I agree with you there. I am very excited to see Chapman. I too think that he has a lot of potential and can make a difference in stopping the run.

I still think that we have to have the mindset that we want to win every game, every week, every year. So until Chapman is back, we still have to find a solution for the interim, given that Chapman really is the solution.

That's the only attitude to have. Whoever winds up in our front 7 during the regular season, I hope they man up enough to keep us competitive until we get a boost from Angerer and Chapman returning. It won't matter how good Luck is if teams are running for 250 and holding onto the ball for 45 minutes a game.

[dgambill]

I have mixed feelings. Talent wise this is a no brainer. If he plays up to his talent he is worth every bit a second rounder. The money is cheap for a starting cb too. The issues are his attitude and willingness to work. If we can take care of that we got ourselves a very nice player. CB is the hardest transition from college to pros in all of football. Even elite college cbs struggle in their rookie years and often for the first couple years. Usually later in years 2 and then into 3 before they start to step out and shine. Here you have a young cb that has tons of talent and potential...already gone through those growing spells and is ready to contribute. He is as good as any other starting cbs in the league and is a true #1 cb. You have perhaps 3 shut down corners in the league...thats like hitting the lottery guys. It rarely happens...we were fortunate to get Luck...another Revis is not likely to come along. This kid however is very solid and a dependable #1 cover guy. That allows us to move Powers onto #2 so we not only upgraded 1 cb spot but basically the whole secondary because then we can play guys like Johnson and King and others where they truely fit...at nickle.

Yes we are far from one corner from a division champion but it definately allows us to focus on other pieces this year and in FA and the draft next year. It should likely take cb off the needs list and allows us to focus on a few positions. Think about it....if you got to spread your focus...it takes more resources, and easier to misjudge talent. If we are focused in on linemen or linebackers that is more time devoted to find the best at those positions. I think CB is the hardest position to predict and find value in the NFL. I think this was a good trade. I would have prefered it be in 2014...but the cost was right for this kid.

We are a long way from contenders but you can see the plan here guys. I do wish we would have done this sooner instead of fooling around with late round draft picks and trying to get lucky with camp fodder corners like Vaughn and others but we tried....we saw we failed to address it..and we went out and got us a new corner. Sure it cost a bit but he has a cap friendly salary. He is incredibly young and can be resigned and he can play right away. I tell you if we could figure out our OL issues we could easily work ourselves into a 500 or wc team. This is a serious upgrade. I still think we need work for a play off team but I at least think we are building this the right way. Young and talented players....eliminating needs like QB, TE, for sure and RB/WR depth through the draft. We added a proven vet DT and some patchwork linemen. CB we now addressed I believe with a future pro bowl caliber type guy. Hard to find players with that type of upside. He was a first rounder...and we got him for a second...and he is seasoned now....seems great to me. If we can improve the OL we have ourselves a team capable of challenging Houston for the division.

This all hinges on the kids attitude and drive to get better....but if we can do that...we got ourselves a great player....worth a first round pick let alone a second.

[Warhorse]

Well, until this new staff shows an inability to motivate (it looks actually just the opposite to date), then I will not look at the kids motivation as a huge issue. I would only be against this if he was getting arrested and things of that nature. I don't care how much talent you have, you can't coach up thugism, but you can coach up lack of desire.

I see this as a great move at a needed time.

[GoColts8818]

I think it depends on the reason we go sub .500. Frankly I expect sub .500 even with the trade. We aren't good enough up front on either side of the ball. With that said up till today we weren't good enough in the secondary either. I think this move makes the rebuilding of the secondary complete. We have two very good starting corners. I think we have the most underrated player in the NFL in Bethea playing safety and while Tommy Z. isn't anything special he's a so-so player maybe a guy who can be upgraded as time goes alone but I think good enough to start and good enough to be our fourth best player in the secondary. Now if Davis busts out and the secondary is still bad then yes people are going to hate this trade but if the secondary is good and we are a bad team because we can't stop the run and can't block guys on offense that's a different story.

We still have holes to fill and we should be able to do that with our other draft picks and the free agency money we are going to have next year. That's why I think this is the kinda year to make a trade like this. With the kind of money we have we can pick up a free agent that is of equal talent of a second round draft pick and we can kinda absorb the blow if we need too that way.

All and all I think this was a smart move by the Colts and unless Davis is just a total waste of space I think this will be a good trade going forward.

[Warhorse]

2012 - none

2011 - Chris Rucker 6th Round

2010 - Kevin Thomas 3rd, Ray Fisher 7th

2009 - Jerraud Powers 3rd

2008 - none

2007 - Daymeion Hughes 3rd

2006 - Tim Jennings 2nd, TJ Rushing 7th

2005 - Marlin Jackson 1st, Kelvin Hayden 2nd

2004 - Jason David 4th, Von Hutchins 6th

2003 - Donald Strickland 3rd

2002 - none

2001 - Raymond Walls 5th

2000 - David Macklin 3rd, Rodriguez Brooks 7th

1999 - Paul Miranda 4th

Those are the CBs drafted by the Colts since 1999. It sure looks to me like a 2nd round pick is a great value for someone who has already shown they can stand up to the rigors of the NFL.

[Indyboy757]

Well I can't wait to see what the future bring to the colts, but I can say that I'm much more comfortable with Grigson as our GM and I can see why Irsay hired him this guy is hungry as a GM and he is doing everything in his power to get this roster where it needs to be and this is just the beginning. I love this last trade and Im sure its not our last, as for lossing draft picks I'm not worried as long as we have the first rounder we should be ok. I think I'm most excited about the 2013 free agency, I can't think of a time the colts had this kind of cap space over the next two years. We have yet to see our team in a regular season game but on paper we are continuosly getting better, an from what we saw last year and 3 games into the preseason we are better but we still have a ways to go. This is a very exciting time for Colts fans with so many changes but one thing I dont think will change is the winning ways of the Colts, so to be realistic I say we win anywhere from 6 to 9 game this season but after next years offseason we will be a power house in the AFC South once again. Jim Irsay may rub some of you the wrong way with his tweeting but hey the man knows football and thats all I'm looking for out of the teams owner, heck if you ask me he put together a dream team of coaches I think so anyway... P.S. sorry for grammer I type very fast..

[USAFHoosier]

I love the trade. We picked up a very good 24yr old corner for a second round pick. Like a lot of people have said we werent going to get a corner with his talent in the second round.

[hawkeyes]

Just hope they can keep his ego/attitude in check and that he stays out of trouble on/off the field!

[Warhawk]

He's young, he's talented, he's more proven than any rookie we could spend the pick on, and we get him a year earlier than we would get a rookie with the pick.

If we start trading high round picks for mediocre 34-year-olds, then I'll start complaining.