"We got our man," says Jim Irsay... The Colts botched their secondary in '11... Howard Mudd likes Ryan Grigson... and Anthony Castonzo earns an "All-Rookie" honor...
FROM THE SADDLE (official team news)
GREEN APPLES AND ROAD APPLES (media analysis)
APPLE PIE (SB Nation goodies)
"We got our man."
What do you guys think? Did we get "our man"?
Don't be shy.
0 recs | 31 comments
Kiper is an idiot
“Ijalana hasn’t shown much” – maybe because he tore his ACL in his first action.
Ty46 - January 13, 2012
That was my first thought
In fact I heard that “people” thought he was looking pretty good up until the injury.
halfchest - January 13, 2012
seriously, what a moron!!
i bet Kiper still thinks we shouldve drafted Dilfer over Marshall Faulk too…
bigpony - January 13, 2012
it was trev alberts not faulk
BLOODontheTRACKS - January 15, 2012
Everyone knows Kiper is a moron. Seriously, two of our top three picks were hurt for big chunks of the year. This was a good draft. Plus, you can’t really evaluate a draft until three years later
TrueBlue87 - January 13, 2012
Mudd's comments
“I don’t think he’ll go in there and start running people off.”
“Seeing guys like (Grigson) move up makes me happy for the industry,” Mudd said. “It’s nice that it’s a young guy who started out beating the bushes for players, who worked his way up with hard work. I respect that a lot.”
Think he has anyone else in mind when he made these comments??
Guy LeDouche - January 13, 2012
^this^
Ayrshire - January 13, 2012
Rec'd
My thoughts exactly.
MinerFootball - January 13, 2012
2011 draft
I think our draft was excellent, I think Nevis, Castonzo are pro bowlers. Right on about Ijialana- he hasn’t shown much becasue of Injury!….about Grigson, i think he is a good talent evaluator/hard worker / passionate/ …..however how good is he at management/cap issues?
coltsgolfbeer - January 13, 2012
"future pro bowlers" is what it should have said
coltsgolfbeer - January 13, 2012
Barring injury Drake is gonna be a stud UT
For a long time…Constanzo is going to be really good also…
We haven’t seen much of Ijalana but from what I saw he is a run blocking mauler. He looks like one of the type of guys you see in the Ravens OL!
(206)NightRidah - January 13, 2012 via mobile
At the introductory presser Irsay alluded to the fact that "we have people to manage the cap, etc."
which I assume is Telesco and himself. It sounds like Irsay prioritized the talent evaluation aspect, thought this guy had a big upside and went with his gut.
EVLGNUS - January 13, 2012
kiper
lol i dont pay him any attention
Stan54 - January 13, 2012
Never trust a guy who wears a hair helmet
James Busch - January 13, 2012
Interesting selection
his young. not like most of the GM’s that are just about to turn the corner in to retirement.
Maybe youth will have better vision. As to managing the CAP. er i’m going to wait and see.
kbreboot - January 14, 2012
That’s what you get VPs for. You really want your GM to be the best scout and talent evaluator.
TrueBlue87 - January 14, 2012
Great hire!
Someone who worked his way up the ladder and won’t be arrogant. Kinda a blue collar executive the best of both worlds. He won’t piss on the Fanbase and will show something grossly lacking for years…humility.
(206)NightRidah - January 15, 2012 via mobile
Generally agree, as long as
we take one page from the recently departed Al Davis. “Just win baby”. Then any humility issues are far easier to overlook.
Bluetime - January 15, 2012
I liked Polian
I don’t really care about how he treats the media because they are mostly a bunch of usless fickle and overweight hacks…fans are pissed myself included because of the 14-0 debacle but it had no bearing on them winning the SB that season. The drafts slipped but picking 30th annually will do that to a team and paying Manning all that money makes it difficult to get FAs so they were totally draft dependent
But treating employees and coaches like dirt is just unnecessary IMO. These are the people you hired to help win Championships. Arguing with fans on his show and refusing to adapt made it time for him to go.
I expect the new GM to be seen not heard and work with the coach as partners as subordinates to Irsay as opposed to acting as If he owns the team
(206)NightRidah - January 15, 2012 via mobile
'no bearing on them winning the SB'
Maybe, maybe not. Maybe if Polian had some stones and had gone for it, they would have kept in stride and won it all. Who knows? And, having Caldwell on the payroll definitely contributed to losing it all. The difference between Coughlin, the Giants coach (if you just watched the end of the first half), is that the Giants are not afraid to use every second of playing time. It resulted in 7 extra points just before half. He’s not afraid to utilize his Manning to the fullest. Do you really see our ‘ridiculous excuse for a head coach’ trying something like that. You saw what he did at the end of the Colts/Saints superbowl. Mr. ‘take no chances’ Caldwell of course packed it in and ran out the clock. If he stays on as head coach, it will be one of the biggest mistakes this franchise has ever made.
Ayrshire - January 15, 2012
Who said anything about wanting to keep Caldwell?
I am not looking to argue with other Colts fans as we want the same thing!
I just am not going to blame every failure on Polian…they had a team good enough to get at least one more lombardi and choked several chances away. Other times they just lost to a superior Pats team…
I am hoping they build around Luck who won’t make 25% of the payroll and begin drafting bigger faster players who have ball hawking skills on D along with mixing in some mid level FAs
I was on these boards clamoring to see guys like Donte Whitner coming to Indy. It would be nice to see someone make a defensive play or hit that changed the course of a game…
(206)NightRidah - January 15, 2012 via mobile
Fair enough.
Whenever I see that comment …that tanking the Jets game had no effect on the SB, it sets me off a bit I suppose. I feel if the whole team and fanbase hadn’t been castrated curing that game, the ultimate outcome may have been different. I brought Caldwell up because of the fact that he’s still employed with the Colts and because of what the Giants pulled off at the end of the first half of their game today. And, yes, every failure can’t be blamed on Polian. The players blew it a bit on some occasions.
Ayrshire - January 15, 2012
I agree that although it didn't effect the Saits loss
Tanking that game lost the Fanbase the locker room and made the Colts a laughing stock as a winning but soft franchise with no balls throughout the league. I know I personally was tempted to throw a chair at my television…
That game defined BPs flaws. Arrogant, not giving a damn about fans players coaches or integrity of the game. I question of they played with integrity this season because they have proven they will not attempt to win in certain situations. Our hated rival patriots were hanging 50 on people en route to a perfect regular season.
I didn’t consider morale in my first post an that does matter so I generally agree with your points!
(206)NightRidah - January 15, 2012 via mobile
And, I agree with everything you said,...
except the part about it not affecting the Saints loss. There’s no way to ever know what would have happened if our team had been allowed to ‘eat’. They may have won the next two games by a larger margin than they did had their ‘morale’ been better. And, being undefeated may have given them added confidence that may have enabled them to win the super bowl, despite the lame attempts by Caldwell to lose it. And, in bringing up Caldwell above, I wasn’t directing that at you. It’s just that the front office is responsible for the coaching staff, and Caldwell is a complete joke, therefore it ultimately reflects on the front office. But, I think we’re on the same page for the most part. The Giants win was amazing. Eli is impressing me more every year.
Ayrshire - January 15, 2012
Didn't see your last line. Yep, morale factors in!
Ayrshire - January 15, 2012
@Aryshire
I think what we have seen this weekend is that you don’t need 3-4 star pass catchers…
If you have a franchise QB…not necessarily a Top 5 ever but an elite 1/3 in the league and you build a team with playmakers and athleticism on both side of the ball you may not win 13 games every year like the Colts used to but your playoff runs will be deeper because you need some grown ass men in the trenches and perimeter speed to win.
Some fans here dont get that you need elite athletes with speed or strengh. You dont see a lot of big maulers on the Colts lines. No 4.3 speed in the secondary. Houston has 10-11 elite athletes so does SF an NYG. Im not necessarily refrencing pro bowler caliber players but guys on D but guys that can havoc and on ST. You can find elite athletes late in the draft and as UFAs. Pierre Garcon is an elite athlete buy we need that on D. Guys like Lacey Caldwell are not good players nor elite athletes. Bracket Angerer are good players but not physically special. Other than Our DEs and Antoine they really have nothing explosive IMO…
Hopefully they will learn from mistakes. No guarantees but I think Luck will be their franchise QB for 10-15 years. So that’s taken care of…build a defense with some grown men…not a bunch of 225lb linebackers and 5’8 safeties
(206)NightRidah - January 15, 2012 via mobile
The undersized players
always perplexed me. It was frustrating to watch them get pushed around so many years. The great play of number 18 seemed to appease many fans and as long as there were a lot of wins, people generally overlooked it. I hope the new GM’s philosophy is much different. And, it’s really going to be difficult, if the Colts cut ties with Peyton. I always wanted a great ending to Manning’s career,…and that meant that he would end it as a Colt.
Ayrshire - January 15, 2012
Colts were built like a Ferrari
But the NFL is an off road course for a Humvee.
Colts fans were mesmerized by winning 13 games per year because no one wins like that…but as we know in the playoffs you are playing teams in the upper third of defense rankings. Less possessions. Teams like NE SD and PIT would steamroll our little ones. They beat up 88 so bad the NFL changed the rules…
I’d rather go 11-5 and be ready to rock in January than 14-2 and be soft…
You have to have a physical defense and a stout OL to be a dynasty I dont care who the QB is…
(206)NightRidah - January 15, 2012 via mobile
You're right.
The Colts were almost a dynasty though. If Peyton had pulled just one more rabbit out of his hat against the Saints, you could argue dynasty, especially considering all the regular season wins. But, a true dynasty has more than one super bowl victory in 13 years….bottom line. I will say this though. Nobody, and I mean nobody….wanted to face a Peyton Manning-led team, regardless of how many midgets surrounded him.
Ayrshire - January 15, 2012
Yeah...
I think this season will elevate Manning’s status to any doubters…he never had a defense and since 07 didn’t have much of a line either…
I hate to “possibly” see him leave Indy without another ring. But to be honest if he doesn’t get hurt Polian stays…he carries the team 3-4 more years but with bad contracts on mediocre aging players unless they catch lightning in a bottle they probably dont win another SB. Maybe they even fall to 6-10 with an aging Manning by 2015.
Unlike the negative people that can accept Manning is possibly done. I think Luck is going to be a stud…maybe not a HOFer but an elite talent. I think Irsay will make sure they build correctly and learn from mistakes and not make Luck a one man show.
This next coach will be the key foundation. It looks like Zim is heading to Miami. They need to get a defensive wiz with some fire and emotion. Someone that will kick butt. Teams follow their coaches lead after 2-14 it’s time to play angry!
(206)NightRidah - January 15, 2012 via mobile
....right on!
Ayrshire - January 15, 2012
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