Colts Thread

decolts · 29-04-2021 2:18pm

Hey all!

So what are all of your expectations from the Colts over the coming days?

My expectations are we won't have a first round pick tonight - there are a few teams that might be looking to move up a few places and I think Ballard won't say no to that! Anything to get more draft picks! I still think we will fulfill all our needs without the 1st rounder. Obviously the 2 main areas are the Edge rusher and Left Tackle - imagine we will see those two be our first picks - outside of that we must be looking at the secondary tho we have done well to hang to what we had in place there last year so will be good to build on that.

letowski · 02-05-2021 10:32pm

Taught I'd throw up an opinion of the draft.

I honestly was OK with the draft. I'd give it a B-. Look, Colts social media is a blaze with the current LT situation and I get those concerns. In an ideal world, we would have taken Paye in combination with a starting calibre LT in the 2nd round. But we don't live in an ideal world, the best LT on the board available in the 2nd round was a late 3rd round talent. I absolutely agreed with the decision not to reach for need. There are still vertern options available in the market, Ballard has spoke about continuing to evaluate the position, so I'm not going to panic over LT for now.

I loved the Kwity Paye pick. Rare athlete and character. Gosh this franchise hasn't drafted a talent like him since Dwight Freeney in nearly two decades. The edge rush really needed an injection of talent, we saw in the Buffalo playoff game, how we failed to get any real pressure on the QB throughtout the entirety of the game. Your not going to make much noise in the playoffs if you can't rush the passer, especially with some of the QBs in the AFC.

That's why I was also OK with going with Dayo Odeyingbo in the 2nd. He also fills a big hole left behind by Autry and has very high upside with his length and size. The injury is a concern but we should get him on the field later this season. Overall, I'm excited to see our young D-line next year. Granson in the 4th is an intriguing athlete and talent. Looks like a playmaker, something we need at TE.

Lets see how the LT situation plays our until September, but I'm feeling OK about the next season. I suppose ultimately the seasonw will depend on how Carson Wentz performs.

decolts · 04-05-2021 4:42pm

At first I was all a bit underwhelmed by our draft this year but having looked more at the guys we have drafted now I can see how we will improve with them. Obviously it was disappointing that we didnt draft a new LT to finish off our O-Line but the draft didn't have too many LT's of the caliber required. My take on this would be we are going (obviously) the veteran route for this season and they might have their eye on a potentially good LT class in next years draft.

I really like that we have focussed on improving the D-Line though as that was just a massive frustration for me, and I'm sure all Colts fans. It was hard watching last year when the QB's were getting so much time in the pocket with little pressure. I really like the look of Paye and feel like he could have an immediate impact for us. Hopefully we get to see some of Odeyingbo and I'm sure in the long term his achilles injury won't be a hindrance to him.

From what I have seen of Granson I think he will be a good TE 3 for us, but I still wouldnt rule us out of going in for Ertz.

As for the new addition to the QB room - Sam Elhinger, he is an intriguing one! I think we might start seeing some interesting plays coming with him in there - I dont think Eason is going to be an automatic first in line backup.. they're going to have a good battle in the offseason.

On a side note I saw a very rare sight at the weekend around Phoenix Park.. someone going around in a Colts hat!

decolts · 06-05-2021 2:31pm

Have any of you watched the last episode of 'with the next pick'? The whole series each year is great, such a great insight and a really top class production to go along with it!

The last episode was so good, love getting to see them making the picks, and making the calls to each of the picks.

Sounds like Reich really likes Granson too.. his phone call was probably the best one too.. Getting pretty excited about this season now!

Here is the link in case you've not seen it:

not_quite_last · 07-05-2021 8:47am

So 5 picks have signed their contracts - which is good.
But reports are Sam Ehlinger's brother - Jake - has died. He was a linebacker for Texas.

letowski · 07-05-2021 8:58am

not_quite_last wrote: »

So 5 picks have signed their contracts - which is good.
But reports are Sam Ehlinger's brother - Jake - has died. He was a linebacker for Texas.

Very sad news for the Ehlinger family for sure.

not_quite_last · 07-05-2021 9:01am

letowski wrote: »

Very sad news for the Ehlinger family for sure.

I read their dad died of a heart attack back in 2013 doing a triathlon, so he's just got his mother and a sister.
But the Colts are doing what they do and looking after him and getting him home asap.

decolts · 10-05-2021 5:07pm

New left tackle onboard.. Eric Fisher - no real surprise that it is only a 1 year deal and hope to get a long term solution in the next draft. All going well it sounds like he should be ready to go by August without any setbacks with his rehab on the achilles.. Not ideal that your new starting LT is coming in with a bad injury but hopefully it won't cause any problems!

letowski · 10-05-2021 8:22pm

decolts wrote: »

New left tackle onboard.. Eric Fisher - no real surprise that it is only a 1 year deal and hope to get a long term solution in the next draft. All going well it sounds like he should be ready to go by August without any setbacks with his rehab on the achilles.. Not ideal that your new starting LT is coming in with a bad injury but hopefully it won't cause any problems!

Just catching up with the news there. Initially I was a bit surprised that it's just a 1 year deal, but the Colts must be confident he is recovering well and will play a significant portion of the season. Having said that, if all goes well and he plays this season, we do have the option to tag him next year for a reasonable price for a starting LT (or get a good comp pick). Ian Rapopport was saying there is a chance he’s not ready to play until early October. it a very serious injury, I'm not sure. We will role with Te'vi for the start of the season either way.

Nonetheless, Eric Fisher is a good starting LT in this league when fit and in form. Probably slightly better than Anthony Castanzo. Hopefully he can come in later this year and give us solid play. An oline of Fisher - Nelson - Kelly - Glowinski - Smith can keep this unit operating at an elite level.

letowski · 10-05-2021 8:40pm

That signing will round out our off-season. In running through what Ballard has done this off-season, I think we can improve somewhat next season, but I think were still short of challenging for a Super Bowl. There is enough talent on this roster to certainly win the AFC South and possibly get a win in the playoffs. But that would be our ceiling I'd say. Ultimately, pretty much everything will come down to how well Carson Wentz will play.

At the start of the off-season, pretty much all the key positional players of last season were either out of contract and retired. Ballard did the following:

QB: Philip Rivers -> Trade Carson Wentz
LT: Anthony Castanzo -> Sign Eric Fisher
WR1: TY Hilton -> Re-sign TY Hilton
RDE: Justin Houston -> Draft Kwity Paye
LDE: Denico Autry -> Draft Dayo Odeyingbo
CB1: Xavier Rhodes -> Re-sign Xavier Rhodes

The moves were mostly lateral, but its still a very young roster so I'd expect improvement on last season. I think there are only 4 guys left on the roster that are over 30, with Rhodes being the only one on defense. If Fisher and Dayo can come into the team later on this year I think we will be very formidable on the fronts on both sides of the ball. My concerns for this team are on the perimeter with our boundary CBs and whether we have enough quality at WR to beat the likes of the Chiefs or Bills in the AFC. And also Wentz off course.

letowski · 13-09-2021 10:04am

Very disappointing opening day performance (what's new?). Pretty much got beaten on every part of the field.

It was very disappointing to see the Seahawks manhandle us in the trenches. Whatever about their explosive playmakers and Wilson, the Colts have a huge amount invested in their oline and dline to front up to teams. Seeing players like Ryan Kelly and Braden Smith (highest paid centre and third highest paid RT) getting destroyed was terrible. I think Ballard and Reich deserve criticism for how they have handled the LT spot, obviously this as been the main talking point this offseason and it really came home to roost for us yesterday. Reich gave Davenport no help which was inexcusable imo.

I taught overall, Wentz did OK, despite nearly getting killed.

Very hard to see us beating the Rams next week. To be honest, there is alot to be concerned about with a vicious opening schedule. Hopefully, we just get Fisher and Rhodes back, front up better in the trenches and hope we can be competitive next week. The only positive is that the Titans looked bad too this weekend.

letowski · 10-01-2022 12:01pm

Probably the lowest moment following this franchise for as long as I can remember. Just so embarrassing too, being on social media last night and being the butt of everyone's jokes. And rightly so, what a disgraceful performance yesterday.

I think the franchise is stuck in a hole now. We still have multiple problems in all of the key positions, QB, LT, pass rush, maybe CB, etc. but we have limited cap space and no 1st round pick. Hard to be optimistic about next year, were still tied to Wentz, and have to find a ways of acquiring starting premium position players with limited capital.

Alfred Borden · 06-02-2022 3:29pm

Agreed, feels like we have too many key positions to fill with no capital. Next season could be a write off unless Ballard can pull off some ridiculous moves. At least we can move on from Wentz at the end of next season and 2023 is supposedly a good QB draft.

nothrowaway · 28-12-2022 7:40pm

This team needs to be gutted. Rebuild the line with an LT in the first round of the draft. Tank another year and try to get someone like Quinn Ewers in the 2024 draft. Let him sit a year, and hopefully a competent GM will have built a solid team.

This also probably requires Irsay to hand the team over to his daughters who will likely stay hands off and hire a Director of Football Ops. Because the dude is an embarrassment right now who can't keep his hands off the team.

Also, not starting Ehlinger now to give him invaluable, real game experience is. Riminal. Either to shop him, or see if he can start for a year or two. Utter shambolic management.

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