The opening Colts drive looks solid despite itself. Sorgi threw mostly safe passes on outs and
screens but the seam pass to Gijon Robinson was a slick look. He hung him out a little but a tight end has
to expect that in that route. Robinson
could not block a lick, neither can Clark. It was and interesting drive. One thing that sticks out is that Sorgi does
not look off safeties on deeper routes.
He doesn’t necessarily telegraph the route, but he does not have enough
confidence to turn his head away from it.
This is a tough assignment for the Colts’ corners. The Skins receivers are small, quick, savvy
guys who know how to find holes yet are capable of bruning a guy off the line
of scrimmage. It shows a little but is
exaggerated by the lack of pass rush. I
think Tim Jennings is showing solid improvement over the last two seasons. He is not good enough or big enough to get
past Hayden or Jackson on the depth chart, but good enough to move Jackson inside in the
nickel. Later in the game, when the
larger Skins receivers come in the Colts will have their smaller corners in,
and then it will be a challenge in the opposite.
I still hold that the resigning of Josh Thomas at defensive
end was a mistake. He is just not good
enough to be relied on. With him at
right end he is in front of the camera for the first quarter and he is just
getting handled. He cannot speed
rush. He cannot bull rush. He is just there getting beat.
Gray is in, I have been looking forward to this. His horrible delivery is evident on the first
throw. Gray looks fatter than usual but
he still ran for the long first. This
guy had minutes last year before he was beat out for the QB job in Jacksonville. He came in and played against the Colts at
one point and I got to see him in person.
I liked him and think he can help.
This may be a year where the Colts keep three QBs on the roster.
Jim Sorgi is to Crispin Glover as Gray and Lorenzen are to Forest
Whitaker and Butterbean.
Brannen Condren and Matt Giordano looked good as reserves in
the safety position. Giordano has played
well for the last couple of years butt just can’t break in past Sanders or
Bethea.
Marcus Howard looked
good in pass rush situations. He is just
too small to be anything else. He is
getting plenty of minutes at the spot, and I would take him over Thomas any
day, even on first and running
Mike
Hart got in early in the third and looked great. He had three big carries in a row, including
one that had to be finished without his helmet.
Hart was a guy that I really wanted the Colts to get a hold of and he
has a chance to make hay. This guy was
born for pads. He runs at an extremely
low pad level, runs hard for his size, has excellent balance and finishes his
runs. He had one crappy play where he
and Gray got mixed up on the play, but man did he look good otherwise. It boils down to a matter of evaluation and
risk versus reward. If you watch a guy
play in big games day in and day out and he really performs, that HAS to tell
you something. I suppose that GM has to
decide if the risk of taking on a player who has disappointing measurables is
worth the potential value that his body of work indicates may be garnered. For me, Hart was a clear and away winner who
understood how to play the game and how to play his position. Beyond that, he had the clear upside of being
a leader. In the end, his selection may
prove to be one of the best in terms of draft location versus output. This guy can play, and if called on, will
perform. His selection in the 6th
round appears to be a situation where we got higher round value at low
risk. I understand the doubts concerning
the miles on his legs, the knee, and his stature and timed speed. The 6th round pick was well worth
it.
Colt Brennan looks good, though he is playing against a Colts defense that I don't recognize. My girlfriend and I are having a competition to see how many players we recognize before each snap. On one play i only saw three guys I knew (Reid, Guzman, Charleston)
You know, Brennan can shoot the ball but his mechanics are middle of the road. Against a team with good front pressure, he is going to be vulnerable. Bad mechanics can get you in trouble on the plays where you have to speed your release up a little. One of those things where you are hitting the hot route because a blown coverage let some guy come free. Generally, you always want to make the throw happen the same way, but sometimes you may need to speed it up a touch. Good mechanics reflect and economy of motion, and sloppy mechanics reflect an excessive use of motion. Brennan's mechanics are not horrible, just a little slingy and loose. I don't mean to say that sidearmers can't succeed, just that there is room for improvement with Brennan in terms of bringing his back foot around in his follow through.. Beyond these things, one thing you want from a QB is a guy who has the guts to throw the TD, Brennan has it. |
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The Colts went to Hall of Fame game to tune up against the Redskins. Oddly, I was not as indifferent as the Colts appeared to be. Of course, we knew that the Colts would look a little foreign with so many players sitting out, but there were still a few things I wanted to evaluate. I wanted to see how the backups defensive linemen played in the platoon. Do they get pressure? How does the offensive line look on third and long? What kind of routes do they have Gonzalez working on? Does he appear to be running the kind of routes we normally stage for Marvin? Do they line him up at slot? Does he make any double moves out of the slot? How does the tailback stable look? What will the tight end position look like? Is Clark lining up there or not? Lets talk about it after the break. 
I think that Pierre Garcon is going to be a nice WR for the Colts. He has very nice size.
Overall, I was impressed with the youngsters on the team and I think they will make this team a whole lot deeper by week 8 this season.
Brennan is the man yo!
I think Lorenzen must have the slowest release that I've ever seen from a pro QB. he "winds up".. he's very very slow.. makes Peyton look like a scrambler.. and I think I could get the ball off quicker than this guy. Playing with 4th stringers has nothing to do with it, I'm not sure I've seen such bad mechanics!
Gray.. I consider.. a serious backup option. I actually like him better than Sorgi as he has more potential. Sorgi is stopgap if needed.
I just like the mobility of gray. I hope I never have to see either in a meaningful game.
While I generally don't watch preseason games, I had nothing to do while this game was on so....
- I find the mix of QB's the Colts have in camp with Manning out to be very interesting. Sorgi obviously has the intelligence/experience of the system and should be ahead of the others but you also have Lorenzen who is supposed to have an amazing arm and Gray who is the most athletic of the three. It gives the Colts more options as to who to pick and options are always a good thing. I like Gray but you'd prefer to have Sorgi out there just because he knows the offense a lot better at this point.
- Mike Hart question....any chance he returns kicks? Any chance he pushes Rhodes out of that second spot?
- Did Addai get injured in the first quarter?
- Any word on Freeney?
- Where can I find a Colts WR depth chart? With the signing of Roby, the 'emergence' of Azhamnaudneau and the question(s) surrounding Harrison; I'm curious as to what the situation is there.
- Who is at fault for allowing the skins to complete all but three of their passes on the evening?
Addai was dazed on hit to the head on an early carry so they kept him out the rest of the way. I really doubt Hart can steal backup from Rhodes, but he might turn backup into more of a committee type role. I didn't watch much last night, as I despise preseason games. Is Kenton Keith still on the roster? He was a solid backup last year so who knows how it will all sort out.
You could see that there were some guys who are going to see minutes and some that aren't. I don't think that Hart will be able to go in and just take the second string role. Rhodes is still a savvy runner and smart in his role. I think a year with a really crappy franchise like Oakland has shown him that a 2 spot on a good team is better than a two spot on a shit wagon.
Garcon looked good but we were never able to see if "Azhamnaudneau" has come along as no one threw him a decent ball. Keith is still on the roster and I think he had two carries
Lorenzen sucks. He looks like a professional wrestler from the 70s.
Not chance Hart returns kicks. Generally a returner will be a 100 meter dash kind of guy and I dont think Hart is the guy. He sure looked good. On that possession where they gave him three carries in a row and he gave 25 yards back, that had to say something. He just busted those.
Freeney is practiciing a little but we wont see him in the preseason.
The skins completed all those passes because the Colts refused to take the game seriously and the Skins wanted the win with Monk and Green there, because it was a big Skins party. It didn't hurt that Brennan and Campbell really looked good. If you are the Skins you have to be happy about the QB posiiton.
You can't say the Colts didn't take the game seriously because there are guys out there busting their butts to make the squad. They may not have been throwing out deceiving coverages/defenses but the players out there were taking it seriously.
I just didn't know if the line wasn't getting a good rush or if the d-backs were struggling with some of the speed the skins have. I look at a lot of the teams in the NFL putting emphasis on rushing the passer (Giants) and others who are trying to shut down teams with their DB's (San Diego) and was just curious if the Colts were changing their philosophy at all.
Who would you compare Hart to if he continues to improve and gets time to play this season? Like a Michael Turner? An old Warrick Dunn who shows flashes still? If you were the GM how would you use him?
Lorenzen isn't good but he does have the best arm in the bunch.
Do they carry depth charts this early in the season and if so, where can I find one?
Lots of questions because I get to see the crappy Bears games this season and will be in need of some good football reading.
Well, I don't know what you want me to say about how seriously they took it. Dungy is widely known for not always going for the throat in the preseason. In fact, when they won the SB, they lost every preseason game. How seriously did they take it. NEither of the starting corners played mroe than a series or two. No starting Safeties played and only one LB (Keiaho). Mathis and Brock were in for about two plays. The Colts used parts of the roster that were 5th or 6th stringers that probably won't make the practice team let alone the roster. The line was not getting good rush. Josh Thomas is horrible. I think if you had seen Brock, mathis, Johnson and maybe Charleston in at the same time you would have seen a little rush, but they weren't. They still had some sacks, but they were based on poor blocking or poor decision making on the part of the QB.
I would compare parts of Hart to a lot of guys. He is a gutty runner with good finish. His moves I would compare to Addai's with a little better pad level downfield. But if I am going to look at it from a historical point of view, I am going to blasphemy a little a say that he reminds me of Thurman Thomas. Thomas was about the same size, and was a Jack of All Trades and Master of None. Thomas could catch, break the big one with moves, and run over a guy for a first down. He kept low but had great vision cutting back in. One of the toughest things for a running back psychologically is to believve that there are extra yards if you cut inside and then do it. It is true, when you cut back in it forces pursuit to change direction, which give you a window of opportunity for yards. many times a back with cut outside hoping to break the big one when there was an extra 3 or 5 by cutting it back in. The only guy who was better than Thomas at that was the Cowboy's old #22. He was a short, low pads kind of guy with not quite ideal top end speed. hart is a good ball catcher and a good blocker. I will stick with the Thurman Thomas comparison for now. Ain't no stoppin me. Ain't no stoppin Thurman T!
As for Depth charts, the Colts just posted one for the preseason on their homepage but it is subject to a lot of change. ESPN has depth charts and so does NFL.Com but they are spotty at best. I have been working with the woman on a depth chart in Adobe Illustrator that would offer you the names of Colts players in a depth format arranged in their position on a field. You would drag the cursor over a name and there would be a popup that would appear giving you physical dimensions, college, years of experience, and general notes on their style of play. I have not gotten it debugged yet as it is something I am trying to use to learn Illustrator as opposed to just having her do it for me. Not only that, but I would at least like to wait for the second roster cut before I put it to service. That way it isn't so big. I began the project as a tool for guys to put in front of their girlfriends when they are watching games. that way instead of a girlfriend or wife saying "who is that guy? What does that position do? Where did Peyton Manning go to college?" He can just show her the program and tell her to keep her mouth shut. I think every guy has had a moment when his woman has asked one too many stupid questions he has already answered twice and he would rather dropkick her in the mouth than listen to another word. I am trying to save relationships here people!
and it isn't a toy for you as well at all. . .
Dammit woman! I told you to keep your mouth shut when the men are talking.
LMAO ^ Nice.