NaptownRich: January 2013

First, I want to thank the Colts on a great year. I also want to thank them for paying attention to fan feedback. Being a season ticket holder I was invited to take several online surveys throughout the year. Not sure if it was a result of those surveys, but I appreciated the Colts doing the T-shirt toss in the upper deck (600 section) and also getting “Blue” to visit the upper deck as well during the last home game. Hope the attention to the upper deck fans continues next season. I also entered a Facebook contest for season ticket holders and was priviledged to have lunch at the Colts complex on 56^th St and see Grigson, Bob Lamey and three players. Rather cool to visit with other Colts season ticket holders and hang out at the complex. Nice touch. Now on to the theme of this blog, building the roster monster.

This past year was supposed to be a rebuilding year, though the team didn’t want to admit that at the beginning of the season nor did they want any part of the word rebuild. With all the roster turnover and young players added, it definitely had the look and feel of a work in progress, a very early work in progress. Well, our team surprised everybody. Though I think the team was provided extra motivation by Coach Chuck Pagano’s illness, and successful battle with leukemia, I think the foundation for their motivation, mentality and professionalism was founded by our new GM Grigson and coaching staff, particularly Pagano, in training camp. Given the roster, new coaching staff and schemes, I predicted a 5 win season, 7 as the best-case scenario. When you look back at the schedule, roster and add all the injuries to key positions like the Offensive Line and the Defensive Line, 11 wins seems pretty remarkable. Granted a lot of their 2012-23 opponents didn’t play up to their pre-season expectations, namely Detroit, Kansas City, Buffalo (all wins) and NY Jets. The schedule may prove to be a little tougher next year with the likes of Denver, San Francisco and Seattle all on the schedule, but it sure will be fun to watch out team compete.

Given this team played as well as they did and gained not only experience, but playoff experience, and the fact that they’ll have nearly $47 million to spend on re-signing and signing new players, the future looks bright especially with the new rookie scale in place. So, where is that cash spent and most needed? Let’s take a look at the roster position by position and rank where help is needed the most. Whether that means the talent will be available in the draft or via free agency is a topic for a future blog.

Priority #1: Offensive Line, Offense Line and Offensive Line. Namely, Right Tackle (RT) & Left Guard (LG) and depth.

Seems like an old story that started even before the dreadful 2-14 season, but Grigson did a pretty decent job of getting affordable bodies in last year to at least get things started in the right direction. However, due mostly to injuries this group never gelled. Having only played about four games together, it showed as Luck never had time to throw for an entire game all season. 41 sacks isn’t getting it done. There were good quarters or halves, but never a full game. With our future pinned to Luck the line has to be addressed. Castonzo was the only real spot locked up. Ijalana was expected to battle for a starting job, but yet again was placed on IR before the season began. Though McGlynn, Justice and Satale were all very serviceable they never really ever gelled as a unit, which I expected in a first year together, but injuries didn’t even allow them to play that much together as a unit. I think the biggest issue was that they never really played even two straight full games together. From years past, we’ve seen what a group of average guys can look like if they just get to play together and get some consistency and comfortability together, albeit Manning was good at covering up weaknesses. I don’t dislike any of the three and if any are replaced as starters, I think any of the three would be great to have as backups. The real question mark was at Right Guard (RG). Sorry, but even if they weren’t playing merry-go-round being in/out of the lineup due to injury, I just don’t see any of the three Reitz, Linkenbach or Olsen as week to week starters and really, barely backups. Just getting a new starting RT & LG would be a major upgrade. With Castonzo at LT, McGlynn at RG and Satele as the C. Maybe G Ijalana can come back from his injuries, but I don’t think we can keep waiting on him. Hills and Sowell were only brought in after injuries popped up as well as C Shipley. Looking at the only other possible body from the roster is 2 year OL Ziemba who was on the practice squad and signed to a future contract at season’s end. There might be 4 guys who could/should(?) be brought back and think we need to be on the lookout for a new starting RT, LG and backups at all positions, with maybe the exception of C where Shipley wasn’t horrible…most of the time. Justice is a free agent, so may not be back anyway. If he’s back, I think he’d serve better in a backup role. In other words, we’ll need to draft or find replacements in free agency and guys who could backup more than one position would be preferable.

LT	Castonzo, Anthony	??
LG	??	Reitz, Joe(RFA)??
C	Satele, Samson	Shipley, A.Q.?
RG	McGlynn, Mike	Ijalana, Ben??
RT	??	Justice, Winston(FA)

Priority #2: Safety (S) starter and depth.

Zbikowski was alright, but alright didn’t cut it. The guy is just too slow, but still is serviceable as a backup and in special teams. After “Z” and Bethea, well there’s nothing. Bethea is still good, but also getting older and has a bigger contract. If Bethea is retained, we’ll still need a backup. So, I see a need for at least two players here, starting S to replace “Z” and a better backup to Bethea. Lefeged is, well Lefeged. He seemed to shine this year as a special teamer, but we really need help when the Defense is on the field. “Z’s” backup Brown was best known for his whiff in the last play at home vs. Jacksonville. Still haunts me thinking about that one. There were no S’s on the IR or practice squad, so no prospects from either of those, so we’ll need to use the draft and free agency to address these positions.

SS	??	Zbikowski, Tom
FS	Bethea, Antoine	??	Lefeged, Joe??

Priorty #3: Outside Linebacker (OLB)

Freeney is the big question mark here, well sort of. He is a free agent, his contract is huge and his lack of quality play through mid-season will likely end his tenure as a Colt. I’m a huge Freeney fan, so am sad to see this and would like to think by the way he played the last few games of the season, he’d played better had it not been for an injury in the first game of the season against the Bears. But, that’s the issue with him…injuries. That coupled with his age and contract value, he’s become expendable. Now the issue is replacing him. Not an easy task, but knowing the defensive scheme, will make it easier to target a player. Hughes has long been a wait and see guy, but I don’t think this management and coaching staff is in a wait and see mode. Seeing the team outperform expectations, I think there’ll be a bit more urgency to let’s win this thing now attitude. If he’s kept through camp, he’ll need to make some major steps to up his game to avoid becoming a camp/preseason casualty. Maybe starting on the right side in Freeney’s spot will be his moment. I don’t have a lot of confidence in that happening. With Mathis the sure starter at LOLB/SLB and after Hughes, that only leaves Westerman on the roster. I hated to see the Colts completely give up on Fuggar, but guess they couldn’t wait on him or thought his injury was going to slow his progress down too much. He was picked up by Arizona after being waived. Hickman was another rookie the Colts had, but was placed on IR. There are a few prospects at LB the Colts had on the practice squad or signed to future contracts in Jake Killeen, Shawn Loiseau and Monte Simmons, but I suspect that’s what they are…prospects and I’m not sure any of the three except Simmons could play at the OLB position. That’s not what you need to replace a player like Freeney or as quality depth. So, the draft and free agency will need to be turned to, to fill this need.

LOLB/SLB	Mathis, Robert	Hughes, Jerry?
ROLB	???	???

Priority #4: Defensive Linemen DL, DE. Starters and depth.

Redding was what I expected. He was more than adequate on the line and a great leader on/off the field. The guy added a fire to the D that I haven’t seen since Freeney’s hey days. But Redding seemed to be alone most of the year in most games. I really liked Moala’s progress, but his injury halted that and at a really bad time for the Colt’s D. And while he was making progress, he just doesn’t seem to be made of starter material. In addition, he’s a free agent. Add that to coming back from injury and I’d like an upgrade. Matthews is the only other guy on the roster at D-Lineman who started the season there. He’s another serviceable, affordable rotation player, but not starter material. Guy, Tevaseu, Geathers and Heard all were brought in due to injury. None of them wowed me, but filled in admirably. I think one or all of them made a case for themselves to compete for a backup position on next year’s roster, but still none are starting material, at least didn’t show they were this season. So, at the very least, a starting DT and backup DE is needed.

For Nose Tackle (NT) let’s not forget McKinney who went on IR before the season started. I liked the thought of him at the Nose Tackle (NT) position and Redding at DE. Of course, McKinney will be entering his 8^th season and coming off an injury now, so who knows at what level he can play now. Also on IR was Nevis and rookie Chapman. The Colts seem high on Chapman before the injury. Johnson the starting NT for the year was serviceable and his contract is friendly, he also seems to be in the same category of rotation player. I’d like Johnson behind McKinney and Chapman assuming he’s healthy.

DE	Redding, Cory	??
NT	McKinney, Brandon?	Chapman, Josh	Johnson, Antonio
DT	???	Moala, Fili(FA)	Nevis, Drake

Priority #5: CB, namely depth but possibly starting RCB if Powers is not re-signed.

I thought the acquisition of Davis, though costly (#2 selection in this year’s draft), was a good move. At the time, the Colts were still a young, rebuilding team with no real thoughts of playoffs. That meant they had time to develop Davis. He came out of shape and a history of attitude and motivation issues. I thought, ok, he’s got a season to get it right. The out of shape issue did seem to bite him as he was injured and missed some time. Not completely unexpected. However, when he returned he started to show flashes of why he was coveted coming out of college. I think an offseason of regular workouts and being around this Colts team and staff might just be what he needed to be the player everyone thought he’d be. I’m I wishful, sure. But, the guy has skills. If he can keep his body in shape and his mind on the game, I think we have our starting left corner for years to come. The big question mark will be if Powers is re-signed since he’s a free agent. He is coming off an injury and has a big contract. If kept, we have our starters and a decent group of guys to compete for backup positions. If he is not re-signed, I don’t think the starter is on the current roster. Vaughn proved he isn’t that guy, though has value as a backup. Butler maybe found a home. He doesn’t have it to be a starter, but showed some games where he stepped up and don’t forget he led the team in pick-sixes. Gordy also proved to be serviceable. Marshay Green was the only prospect that was on the practice squad and would be at best, competing for a backup position, particularly if he can play special teams. If Powers is retained, I’d drop CB to a lower priority as I’m comfortable (not quite doing a pick-six dance) with this group especially given their contract values.

LCB	Davis, Vontae	Vaughn, Cassius
RCB	Powers, Jerraud(FA)	Butler, Darrius	Gordy, Josh

Priority #6: RB, particularly the 2^nd RB and depth

RB Ballard solidified his spot as the starter toward the end of the season, but after him what do they do. Brown will be coming off injury, but still might be ok as the #2 or a changeup guy/backup. Injuries are starting to be a concern and while it doesn’t seem he’s had a fair chance behind this year’s or previous offensive lines that were primarily built for the passing game, just how long can we keep saying that. He’ll be in year #5, so it’s getting to the do or be cut time for him. Carter didn’t do anything to help his cause when he was in. Maybe a nice play here or there and maybe he can hide behind the O-Line issues too, but then again, Ballard did ok with the same line. The only others on the roster are Moore, who was cut during the season and only brought back when Brown went to IR. Karim was also brought back and while he looked good in the return game, his RB skills are still to be seen. Colts seem to really like Alexander, but was the expendable every time they needed to cut a RB. He was on/off the practice squad nearly all year and they did sign him after the season, which shows they liked something about him. However, there’s mixed reports on him. Espn.com NFL transactions on January 10^th shows him as signed by the Tennessee Titans and also the Colts on the same day. NFL.com shows him as a Titan. Colts.com has him listed as being signed in their news report on January 10^th. Whether he’s ready to be a 2^nd or 3^rd RB in the lineup is still TBD. The Colts also signed Davin Meggett who ended the year on the practice squad. While the starter might have been settled by Ballard’s performance, the #2 spot and backups are still up for grab. I think if there’s a player worth taking a flyer on in the draft in the mid rounds, they take him or look to free agency to add to the competition. Of course, fixing priority #1 – Offensive Line – could help solve the RB priority faster. A better line will always help the RB. That coupled with several prospects, especially young prospects is why I have RB this low on the list.

Ballard, Vick

Brown, Donald?

Alexander, Alvester

Priority #7: ILB, depth

ILB Freeman and Angerer are both quality starters. Freeman showed he is a tackling stud. Angerer’s foot injury caused him to miss several games and when he came back, it either was bothering him or at least limited him. If one could play at the RILB position that would a nice starting duo. Conner was ok and got lots of playing time which helped boost his experience, so I think would be a quality backup. Injuries to Freeman and Angerer also cause a question mark and raise the need for depth. Either one being out for any time would mean the importance of this position would move up this priority list. Fokou and Harvey were ok, but we couldn’t depend on either as starters. Edds and Lutrus were on IR. Neither seemed like starter material and both will be coming off injury. Loiseau is the only prospect the Colts had on the practice squad, but not sure if he’s an inside or outside LB. Seems the Colts have starters in Freeman and Angerer and several guys to compete for the backup roles, which is why ILB is this low on the priority list.

RILB	Angerer, Pat	Conner, Kavell
LILB	Freeman, Jerrell	???

Priority #8: WR, depth, possible starter

The Colts have enjoyed depth at the WR position for years it seems now. Wayne is aging, but is still a starter and is also under contract. Hilton showed flashes of being something special. With his speed and knack for making yards after the catch (YAC), he just needs experience and practice with Luck. After these two is the question mark. Avery had good games, but was really inconsistent over the course of a season. Being a free agent, the Colts will need to decide if he’s worth re-signing based on other talent available. Another vet to line up with Wayne, I think would be great. Whether that vet is Avery I think will depend if his value outweighs any other free agent’s value on the market. Having played with Luck for a year, gives him a bit of an advantage. I’d really like to see the Colts either get a dependable/affordable vet who could line up every play opposite of Wayne, a big-time go-to guy like a Mike Wallace or a big-sized, tall vet to compliment Wayne and Hilton. I think Brazil has potential, but may be more valuable in the return game especially if Hilton is moved to the #2 WR position. Palmer never got playing time, but is supposed to be a speedster. I would like to see Palmer show why his nickname was Na-Palm. Coming off IR will be Whalen, who should get another chance at making the roster with his former Stanford teammates Luck and Fleener. Also, coming off IR will be Collie who will also be a free agent. I think the Colts part ways this time around. He’s been injury plagued and honestly, I wouldn’t want to be the team that sees him go down with yet another concussion. He’s playing on borrowed time. Only other prospect was Kris Adams who spent the year on the practice squad, but I saw a report on espn.com NFL transactions that he signed with the NY Giants on January 15th. If there isn’t a FA vet available, I like the idea of keeping Avery, but moving him to #3 behind Wayne & Hilton and spend the money on much more needy positions.

Wayne, Reggie

Hilton, T.Y. Whalen, Griff

Avery or FA vet?

Brazil, LaVon

Palmer, Nathan

Priority #9: Returners, particularly kickoff (KR)

Hilton seemed to settle in as the punt returner (PR) and most likely the job is his. However, if he’s moved up to #2 WR, that could change this thought. Brazil might get another opportunity and maybe he’s ready this time around. He didn’t do well when given a chance early in the season. He had too many bad judgments. Maybe that was just rookie jitters and another year helps. If not, Hilton will be the guy unless someone else steps up or is brought in. Karim came in late in the season and was given a shot. He didn’t disappoint in the last home game vs. the Texans taking one to the house. But, let’s not get carried away. That was one return for one game. If he can make a splash as a backup RB and keep up his upward trend in the kick return game, maybe we found our guy. Only other guy the Colts listed as a backup for both positions is Zbikowski. I like this attitude and toughness, but he just doesn’t have the speed.

KR	Karim, Deji?	Hilton, T.Y.	Brazil, LaVon
PR	Hilton, T.Y.	Brazil, LaVon

Priority #10: Kicker (K) and Punter (P) – but only if either is let go or not re-signed.

These are the wildcard positions that could shoot up the priority list if either are not kept or re-signed. Though Vinatieri started the season slow, he did perform well over the course of the year. However, you can’t ignore his age and contract. Vinatieri is under contract, so we’re good there. Financially, he’s a big hit. However, are there any other quality, dependable kickers available? If there’s another younger K who’s more affordable and as solid, this could be a position that might see a change to join the trend of going younger. As far as punter, we just need to resign McAfee, period. If we don’t, punter moves to #1 which I think weakens the team considering where we are at with the Offensive and Defensive lines. Let’s also not forget he’s our kickoff guy too, not Vinatier,i and he’s been good. Not only good, but seems to be getting better with both his kickoffs and directional punting. Overton was solid in his first year, so we’re good with long snapper (LS).

PK	Vinatieri, Adam	McAfee, Pat
P	McAfee, Pat
H	McAfee, Pat
LS	Overton, Matt

Priority #11: Quarterback, BACKUP - possibly

With Luck as the starter…well, need I say more. He was expected to be good, but this soon and that good? He showed he had poise in the pocket and could deliver with his arm and more importantly brain. He showed mobility, more than I really expected and major stamina & guts. The guy was sacked 41 times and took some monster hits. And if not for his legs, it would have been many more. Remember the hit in the Green Bay game? And he got up smiling. Damn, I like our QB. The only knock was learning to take a sack vs. INT and/or making better decisions when throwing the ball away. I think those INTs/fumbles late in the season came as a result of being told to get rid of the ball if the pocket is closing in. He just needs to know when to do either and that taking a sack isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Well, unless it’s 41 times. Let’s not forget, this was his FIRST year. The only question would be for the backup QB position. Stanton is solid, if he’s ok with remaining a backup with so many teams needing starters and backups where the backup is surely to get playing time (can you say, J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets? or the QB-less Cardinals?). If I were Arizona, Jacksonville, Buffalo, NY Jets, Oakland, Kansas City, Philadelphia, and possibly Chicago if they can’t fix their O-line to keep Cutler upright. If Stanton leaves/is traded (which might be a valuable option), we’ll need a backup and is the only reason this is next to last vs. last in the priority list. Personally, I hope we keep him. Of course, we also have Harnish who spent the latter half of the season on the practice squad. If he’s ready to make the jump to a full time backup, then maybe Stanton does indeed become trade bait on draft day.

Luck, Andrew

Stanton, Drew or Harnish, Chandler

Priority #12: Tight End (TE)

The Colts hit home runs with the rookies they drafted last year. Allen is going to be a stud. His big size compliments our WRs very well and can line up as a Full Back (FB). Fleener just needs to work on his hands, but his first year showed lots of promise. Behind them were a cast of guys who were brought in after Fleener got hurt. Saunders is young and looks to have some promise. The Colts seem to like D Jones as well. He was on/off the roster and practice squad and was signed after the season to a future contract. Martell Web was another guy that was on/off the practice squad but was signed by the Tennessee Titans. Kyle Miller was also a guy that was on/off the practice squad and signed with the Miami Dolphins.

Allen, Dwayne

Fleener, Coby

Saunders, Weslye/Jones, Dominique

I’ll continue searching and reading and report updates here. Next blog, I plan to start evaluating free agents available that the Colts might take a look at to fill the open spots just mentioned in the priority roster monter list.

NaptownRich

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Colts hire Assistant Offensive Line Coach & Offensive Assistant.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Colts sign WR Jeremy Kelley

Monday, January 28, 2013

Colts lose another coach...to the Cardinals

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

New coaches, player contracts

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Building the Colts 2013-14 Roster "Monster"