If they don't tag Pittman I'll start to question Ballard's GM ability.

Honestly, the only part I'd disagree with there is WR. Once Pittman is re-signed, I don't think they need to add at WR unless an elite talent like Nabers falls to them.

Honestly, looking at the sack leaderboard, combined with Ballard's history of success at DE in free agency and the draft, led me to think signing Hunter might be the best option.

Easier to stop an offense when you know what their playcall is. Easier to know what your opponent's offense is calling if you have Ernie Adams analyzing tape and relaying the signals directly to Belicheat on gameday.

We have 3 NFL caliber WRs on the roster. Everyone else is a PS/TC fodder type of player. Even if we don't need to bring in someone to compete w/ Pierce, which is debatable, we still need to add 1-2 WRs to have some adequate depth.

Agree that Hunter would be a great signing. But we all know how Ballard operates, so little chance of that happening. An Autry/Ebukam type signing is probably the best we can hope for.

As mentioned many during broadcasts, Pierce ran the most 9 routes of any WR in the NFL, and by a wide margin.

He was open on a lot of those routes and Minshew just failed to find him, or didn't trust his arm. The hope is that AR hits on those open routes.

Besides they are still valuable routes as Pierce is a threat and he does move safeties from time to time.

Minshew didn't have the arm needed to get it there. On all those go routes and fly routes he was open literally 80% of the time. He rarely got any respect from opposing DC's because they knew he was not getting the ball. If we have a QB who can get it there accurately it will also free up Pit on the other side and make those slants a little easier to Downs. Just being able to throw a deep ball makes a defensive approach to us a little more challenging. I don't think we need WR helps as much as some. We need to see if Pierce can catch the ball when thrown to him in stride. Most of his catches are made from him having to come back for the ball, or in a congested route where he has to fight for it cause it was woefully off target or underthrown.

I'm not saying to completely give up on Pierce, but if either Odunze or Nabors is there for us to draft it probably makes sense to draft one of them (pending they're the BPA).

I do stand by my statement that we need to bring in 1-2 WRs (could be from the draft) for depth b/c we have pretty much nothing past MPJ (hopefully), Pierce, and Downs.

If Nabers is there, he's the BPA. In most classes, he'd be WR1, but most classes don't have the physical reincarnation of Calvin Johnson taught to play WR from childhood by Marvin Harrison.

If you don't get an elite talent like that, though, I really don't see a reason to bring in a WR. If Ballard's not an idiot (and he's not), he'll tag and extend MPJ. MPJ is a good 1, Downs is a good slot (and IMO would be the #2 target in the offense), and Pierce has the skillset to be the deep threat boundary guy. Beyond that, the Colts are only going to keep 5 WRs in all likelihood, Dulin will probably be one of them, and I likes what I saw of DJ Montgomery enough to not burn a Day 3 pick on the hope of getting a good WR4.

So if you can get Nabers, get him, otherwise stand pat at WR IMO.

I agree on Nabers and as mentioned before like Odunze as well. Guessing both will be gone by 15, but stranger things have happened.

You're assuming Dulin will be fully recovered from his ACL tear. Not saying that he won't be, but it is possible that he's not and starts on the PUP.

Not following your logic on not drafting a day 3 WR. If there's one available at the top of Ballard's board who's likely better than Montgomery then why wouldn't we want to take him? Also, if WRs 4-6 are good on special teams then we could keep 6. Probably not, but it could happen.

If a WR is BPA, it's a Day 3 pick, they don't even make the roster sometimes. That said, you can often find starters at other positions on Day 3, OG being a great example of that. If there's a starting caliber OG that could push Fries and a WR who will be lucky to make the roster as a WR4, I'd rather get the OG.

day 3 guards don't make the roster sometimes. what are you even going on about? Nacua was a day 3 pick. he turned out fine.

we all know starting guards and centers can be found a lot of times on day 3. that doesn't mean a wr can't be awesome on day 3.

Puka Nacua and Marques Colston are much more the exception than the rule and starting OGs are much more common on Day 3. Pretty sure you already knew that, though.

Can you back any of this up with facts?

If there's someone in day 3 available who Ballard thinks can legitimately compete for a starting spot on the roster then I'd expect him to have said player higher on his draft board than just someone who he thinks will be a depth guy. Also, if a WR is going to have trouble beating out someone like Montgomery then they're probably nowhere near the BPA, even on day 3. Not trying to knock Montgomery. He made a couple of clutch catches vs. Pitt, but there's a reason why he's bounced around on multiple team's practice squads and only has 6 catches since he entered the league in 2019.

Also, Ballard doesn't seem to put much stock in the likelihood of a day 3 draftee making the roster. If he likes the player he takes them. For example in day 3 of the '23 draft he picked 2 OTs w/ only 1 likely to make the roster, same w/ CBs, a TE who was going to have a steep uphill climb to make the roster, and a RB who was probably going to make the roster but w/out injuries would have been burried on the depth chart.

It doesn't mean they can't be found. Also, I'd be willing to be there are plenty of day 3 WRs on rosters throughout the league.

I'm not going to waste my time pulling the last 10 drafts' rounds 4-7 to determine how many starting OGs and starting WRs were there, but if you have time to do that, feel free to do so. I have a feeling it will show a lot more starting OGs than WRs, though.

Sure. I don't see WR as a need for this team. I disagree with your assessment that it is. I do, however, agree with you that Nabers provides enough of an upgrade to be worth taking at 15 if he is there.

If so, you should be able to come up with some of the names

Interesting that you keep side stepping Odunze when I bring him up. Guessing you don't like him?

Also, not sure why you're so opposed to adding depth at WR. At the very least the more quality weapons for AR the better right?

We need a playmaker TE. Will help our WR’s out and definitely help AR out. All the good teams have one. I mean one even better than Dallas Clark. If the edge rusher isn’t there at 15 let’s go TE


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Honestly? Don't have an opinion on him yet, have watched no film on him. Only WRs I've watched at this point are Harrison Jr. and Nabers and both were incidental to watching a QB. I'll probably watch Odunze when I get to Penix. That said, I've definitely added Latu to the list of players I want if they're there at 15. He's currently at the top of the list.

Brock Bowers won't be available at 15. The playmaking TE class was last year. Not nearly as many available this year.

o


Colts Projected to Land One of the Top Defensive Backs in Free Agency

(By Jaleen Grandberry)

https://horseshoeheroes.com/posts/co...y-01hnjksyr4hr

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I’d rather get Jeremy Chinn

I'm not interested in a safety. Give me the Bears Jaylon Johnson at CB. Ballard can not go int this offseason filling out the secondary with draft picks.

I'm interested in a safety, but it's Julian Blackmon. Jaylon Johnson would be nice, but I'd prefer an elite pass rusher like Danielle Hunter.

I hope they go after Chase Young. He had a luke warm year so he might be willing to sign a one year deal, have it be a great year and then go back to Free Agency in a giant way. Playing with the Colts would give him an opportunity to feast on the young QBs in the AFC south and possibly get a high number of sacks.

Yeah, I want Blackmon back too. But I wanna add a productive young CB to the mix as well.

I didn’t realize Johnson was a free agent… he’d be nice considering him and Blackmon were teammates in college

I watch the 49ers quite a bit, Chase Young is a low effort Jag. Takes too many plays off.

Don't want him.

Thanks, I only know of him by reputation, but based on what your assessment is, it would be a mistake to sign him. I'll watch him closely in the SB and see how he does.

He may not even play.

Supposedly Chicago is interested in retaining his services. It has been rumored for the last 1-2 months that the Bears will tag him if they cannot agree to terms on a new deal.

I guess talks could breakdown and he could try to force his way out of the Windy City but it will probably require a tag-and-trade. So there is a good chance that the Colts would have to send Chicago some draft picks in addition to extending a big contract offer.

I watched Odunze now, so I figured I'd come back and address this. After watching at least 10 games of both Odunze and Nabers, it's close, but I'd take Nabers.

First, let's talk Odunze. Top thing I will note, Penix overthrew him and/or placed the ball high far too often. When he had catchable balls, he made a lot of tough catches. He won most contested situations, and he ran great routes that got him open with good separation often. The thing that surprised me most with Odunze was his open field playmaking ability. Receivers his size usually don't have the open field quickness/shiftiness he has. I've heard he's drawn Larry Fitzgerald comps, and while I don't agree, I'd call him more of a poor man's Larry Fitzgerald if we're using that comp, the traits I see that would cause someone to make that comp are the open field playmaking ability, the size, and the great highpointing ability on catches, especially in the redzone. The biggest negatives to Odunze for me are twofold: first, it seems he has a bit of a habit of playing down to his competition, which seemed to be a trait of his whole team, and second is that there were a few times in about three or four games I watched where Odunze had concentration drops. These were situations where the ball was placed perfectly, Odunze was wide open and set up to make a big play, and he just dropped the ball. If you're drafting Odunze, you're drafting him as your WR1, and that is something that is inexcusable for a WR1.

Now let's talk Nabers. The thing that jumps out about Nabers immediately on any tape you put on is the playmaking ability, which is electric. Get him the ball in the open field and he has the chance to take it to the house on every play. The next thing that jumps out is the route running ability and ability to create separation. He's open by 3-5 yards so often, and the subtle shifts he uses in his route running including speed changes and breaks are constantly creating that space for him. The third thing that stands out on his tape is the body control. This is what I saw that made me comp him to Reggie Wayne. If he's catching a ball on a boundary, whether it's the sideline or the end zone, he has elite ability to go up, win the contested catch, and still bring both feet down in bounds. As for weaknesses, it's really hard to find anything without nitpicking. The one I see in most scouting reports is that his route tree isn't diverse enough, but that feels a lot like last year's C.J. Stroud criticism that "he couldn't create outside of the structure of the offense", which is to say that it's stating a "weakness" just to have something to state as a weakness.

In summary, both are great players, both are probably gone in the top ten, but if both were on the board and I was making the selection, I'd select Nabers. That said, I don't think the Colts will get a chance to draft either, but I'd certainly welcome either as a dynamic playmaker to add to the arsenal for Richardson. Interestingly enough, however, Brock Bowers seems to have become one of the chalk picks for the Colts at 15, which is surprising considering I'd rate him as a Top 5 to Top 10 talent in this class. I would not be disappointed with that. There are actually a lot of ways the Colts could go at 15 that I'd be happy with, to the point that a trade down might not be a bad idea.

o


A Chiefs fan took down a possible suspect in the shooting of 22 people in the team's Super Bowl Parade yesterday ...... by tackling him.



Chiefs Fan Filmed Tackling Possible Mass Shooting Suspect Says "I Had the Perfect Angle"

(By Jesse Kirsch, Phil Helsel, and Patrick Smith)

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...deo-rcna138926

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Cool. Thanks for responding after you took a look. The reason why I was bringing him up is b/c I suspect he's the one of the 3 big WR prospects that's most likely to fall to us at 15. Not saying it's going to happen, and I agree that he along w/ Nabers will be gone by the time we draft unless one of them has a bad workout, etc. I'd be happy with us getting either of them, but assuming we're able to re-sign MPJ then I think Nabers would be the better fit w/ our current WR group.

Yeah, I've been seeing Bowers pop up a lot for us in mock drafts. Would love to see us draft him, but I suspect he'll show up really well in pre-draft workouts that will push him into the top 10.

Agree that trading down is definitely a possibility. Ballard loves to do it.

I'd love to draft Latu at 19 or 20 and pick up an extra Day 2 pick in the process. Apparently Latu is falling on boards despite having by all accounts a good Senior Bowl because he wasn't an elite athlete. That said, his lack of elite athleticism is the reason I think he won't end up a Colt. If Bowers is there, the Colts will love him for being a 1 of 1 type player. I don't buy the 230 rumors on him, and I don't care if he's 6'3" 240 if he runs in the 4.4s and runs a 3 cone in WR range, because on film he blocks like a OT and otherwise plays like a top tier WR. If Bowers isn't there, there are actually a lot of good options at ED and CB. I wouldn't be mad with any of Latu, Verse, Arnold, Mitchell, Wiggins, or DeJean. That's six players, and 3-5 of them are likely to be on the board when the Colts pick. Trading back to one of these teams that wants to get their QB or head up the OT run seems to look better as the process continues.

o


Last season, l Kendall Fuller l had 79 combined tackles, 9 pass defenses, and 2 interceptions in 15 games played.



Colts Projected to Sign Super Bowl Champion CB

(By Dave Holcomb)

https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/news/ke...-agency-rumors

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I'd rather they sign Sneed if they're going the veteran route.

I don’t want either…. They played on an aggressive style defense and didn’t have to cover long… quite the opposite of the sit back in zone and make the tackle style of defense we play here

Not only that, but I doubt Ballard will be willing to cough up the cash to sign either of them.

o


Report: The Colts Met With Illinois OL Jordyn Slaughter

(By Kevin Hickey)

https://coltswire.usatoday.com/2024/...-meeting-2024/



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Slaughter has asserted that his biggest asset is his versatility, that he is capable of filling in adequately at either guard or tackle should somebody get injured during a game.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIlBN9MJwgQ

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