Roster improvements 2022
 

It looks likes the colts will not have a first round pick in 2022 draft so the remaining rounds and free agency will have to be used to fill needs.

On offense. I see the colts re signing Eric Fisher to a 2 year deal to cover the left tackle position. Also I see Chris Reed or a draft pick replacing Glowinski. They need either Strachan or Patmon to step up at wide receiver. Parris Campbell cannot be counted on and Pascal and Dulin are not starters. T.Y Hilton is most likely gone. Maybe they draft another WR or sign a free agent. Tight end needs to be addressed with Doyle about done and Mo Allie Cox a free agent that will probably be re signed. Not sure about Kylen Granson.

On defense, Tyquan Lewis is most likely gone unless he signs a return from injury prove it deal. Dayo Odeyingbo may be the replacement. Kemoko Turay is not worth a new contract. Xavier Rhodes needs to be replaced at cornerback. A better linebacker than Franklin needs to found unless E.J Speed is the answer.

The roster is fairly young and needs a few additions and the colts could have a solid roster.

Feel free to add your thoughts.

First priority is defense, specifically CB and S. Then line depth on both sides and WR.

We are the fifth highest scoring team in the league, but are 11th in opponents scoring. Defense has to improve if we want to be a serious contender.

We need to draft DB's galore. I like Ya-Sin and Rodgers, along with Kenny Moore, but Rhodes has not been good this year, Carrie is unlikely to be resigned, we need 2 or 3 guys that are competing for the starting outside corner position.

Safety, Blackmon has been great, but will be coming off of a huge injury, Willis is a great in the box safety, but is a liability in coverage, everyone else to play safety so far this year for the Colts shouldn't be relied on to play defense next year. Odom can remain on the roster as the special teams ace, but he has yet to do anything of significance on defence yet. Can see we need to draft someone high to cover the potential loss of Blackmon, plus another guy.

Offense we need a receiver, who knows maybe we enter the Odell Beckham sweepstake (not sure how we afford that long term though). I do think Pascal and Dulin deserve to be on the roster, but at least one spot back from where they are playing now. I suspect Hilton is playing his final year in Indy. I am not quite ready to give up on Campbell yet (there have been some flashes of his ability), but he really does need to actually stay healthy.

The Oline, we need to resign Fisher, or else this becomes the No. 1 priority. The rest of the Oline i am comfortable with. Pinter and Reed can replace Glowinski assuming we don't resign him. Pryor has proven to be an adequate RT, certainly as a backup option. Health is the key here yet again.

The Dline, Banogu is already gone in my mind, Turay needs to prove himself throughout the remainder of this season and earn a new contract. The rookies will be the core to the pass rush. I would try to resign Lewis as the 4th guy. Muhammad is just a body who is serviceable, but is also part of the reason why we don't have a consistent pass rush. Interior we are good, Stewart, Buckner, Stallworth, are in the top 5 interior group in the NFL.

LB's i am happy to stand pat. Franklin, Speed and Adams are fine as depth.

TE's I would be happy to role with the same three guys, but it might be time to be thinking about replacing Doyle with a more dynamic receiving threat. That might turn out to be Gransen, but he has flattered to deceive so far this year. But TE is probably one of the hardest transitions from college to the pros. Kyle Pitts is just a beast and makes it look so easy.

RB's and QB's no need to mess around too much here.

So in summary we need 2 CB's, a Safety, WR and a TE either through free agency or the draft all of whom would need to see major playing time next year.

I know IU sucks this year, but Micah McFadden is one hell of a football player...he plays LB at Indiana, but I could see him moving to S in the pros! Would love to see him as a Colt!

Until someone actually develops we need pass rushers.

Ben Banogu was drafted way too early for a developmental prospect. However he may blossom on another team similar to Jerry Hughes although not that good.

The defensive line has potential to be awesome if Dayo and Kwity Paye develop. Dayo has loads of talent and Paye kind of reminds me of retired chiefs defensive end Tamba Hali. They have similar backgrounds and a high motor. I am surprised how good Paye is against the run. Often guys like him are pure pass rushers and so so at stopping the run.

As always it seems, the colts need secondary help and along with drafting players, might need to look at the free agency market for immediate help. I do like Rock Ya Sin, a healthy Blackmon and Kenny Moore. If the can land a solid cornerback, they should be in good shape. Of course a fierce pass rush would help matters immensely.

As far as the offensive line goes, even if they re sign Fisher which I think they will, they need to draft a long term replacement.

Ballard has put together a solid roster overall.

Wide receiver. It’s one of the toughest positions to fill and you need to spend high picks on one the odds are just better. We have spent tons of draft capital on the defense. Other areas need attention. You want another pass rusher use FA. Find a guy you can pair with Pittman and the offense should be set for awhile. Spend some later picks on secondary depth and development. They will probably go defense again in 2023 anyway.

Cambell can’t be depended on and TY is done. No one else on the team is a WR 2 or can create separation. You need more than one wr today.

It’s pretty obvious where the weaknesses on the team are - pass rush, secondary, and WR are the glaring needs. TE becomes a question mark and LT depends on how they handle Fisher. The key to me is what you see the rest of the year from Paye and Dayo. If there is reason for optimism then next year is the start of a realistic window and Ballard needs to actually fill holes with guys who can compete - not just rookies. He actually needs to use FA to get COMPETENT level guys at WR and in the secondary. I’m not suggesting breaking the bank on the top guys. I’m saying not having to rely on 2nd - 4th round drafts picks to immediately cover glaring holes. Then use the draft to take BPA at anything other than RB or QB. Preferably CB or WR but I don’t want to see that be the only option for filling the glaring holes. Ballard has acquired a decent amount of high quality talent. He needs to now assemble a team capable of truly competing. Those are different things.

If Paye and Dayo don’t show reason for optimism then the only thing that matters is finding a pass rush somewhere. That may require drastic steps. But you aren’t winning anything without one.

This makes missing (apparently) on Marvel Tell and then Shawn Davis this year sting a little more. Was really excited seeing Davis' college highlights. And why can't Marvell make the game day roster with all the injuries???

I could see him as an in-the-box safety who does well in run support, but I don't see him with great coverage skills...so I'm not sure what he'd bring to this defense in terms of improving the secondary.

Anyone else think that Dulin could be converted to FS? He might make nice backup to Blackmon.

Show me one instance of a player in the last 30 years who has made that drastic of a positional switch at the NFL level?

Tell is injured. He suffered his injury right about the same time as the other DB's.

He is on the Practice Squad IR list.

He should be converted to something...he is a mediocre WR, can't get open and can't get the contested balls.

Yeah, tough switch...so he will continue to be a mediocre WR.

Here is a list of upcoming free agents. Hassan Reddick is a guy who catches my eye as a pass rush specialist.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2021-22...50-free-agents

STOP IT, STOP IT RIGHT NOW, Ballard signing a top tier FA, don"t get your hopes up.

The Colts need to avoid drafting Ohio state players. Anthony Gonzalez. Malik Hooker and Parris Campbell as examples. For some reason they can't seem to stay healthy.

Of the upcoming free agents for 2022, I see Eric Fisher as a must signing. He shouldn't garner top tier left tackle pay anymore and I would think he would want to stay in Indy with his connection to Ballard and playing along side Nelson.

Mo Allie Cox also should be re signed. Other possible cap friendly signings are Taylor Stallworth, Chris Reed, Zaire Franklin and Tyquan Lewis. The rest of the free agents are mostly backups or fading veterans and should be reasonable cost players to re sign if the colts want them.

Going to have to sign someone. Can’t just go year in year out without a passrush. He also looked into signing several top FA’s until someone else stepped in and overpaid. And I don’t know if Reddick qualifies as top tier FA. He is only 230 lbs, they have him below Harold Landry who is nothing special.

FA is not Ballards thing, every year Colts fans go into FA with a little hope, and each year the Colts sign “bargain “players while being outbid by other teams because Ballard has put a dollar amount on players, which he won’t go over. Expecting him to change is, dare I say foolish? He builds thru the draft, and next year the Colts will be in year 6, I think, of his rebuild of the Colts

Thanks for the update. He is going to have to eventually. Can’t be in a constant state of rebuild.

Eh. It's year 3 for Banogu and he still doesn't see the field. Could be wrong, but seems like if he was going to turn into something he would be getting at least a few snaps here and there.

Well put. Until we can get at least a decent pass rush then adding players at other positions (at least on D) is like pissing in the wind. Would be great if Paye and Dayo pan out, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that. I have a feeling that Ballard will be spending more 2nd and 3rd rounders on players like Turray and Banogu for the next several years until he finally hits on one.

Unless the coaches are totally blowing it, which is a distinct possibility. I know that unless you practice like a demon they won't play you. I wonder if Banogu is one of those players that play better than they practice. I would like to see Banogu play and fail before we cut the guy.

Seems like we a constantly hearing this though. For top players, someone will always overpay. So "looking into" them doesnt mean much to me. I am happy that ballard hasnt gone wild with our cap money, but if you really want some of these guys, difference makers, you will probably need to overpay according to your binder.

We have a pretty solid core. One or two difference makers could really propel this team.

I don’t think they necessarily need to be difference makers - assuming Paye and Dayo develop to give the team at least an average outside rush. The top level talent on the team is pretty good. They need guys to help fill the glaring holes with league average production.

Jerry Hughes did nothing with Colts and turned into a beast with the Bills. Sometimes a new scheme changes everything

I wasnt specifically referring to pass rush, but was talking about any free agents.

Neither was I, although I see it looks confusing. Here is what I meant to say: If Paye and Dayo fix the pass rush then I don’t think the Colts need difference makers as free agents. The top end talent on the team will be good enough to be true contenders - as long as you don’t have major, easily exploitable holes in other areas. Mainly CB and WR. That is where Ballard could and should effectively use free agency. Bringing glaring weaknesses up to at least league average. That costs but it wouldn’t break the bank.

If Paye and Dayo don’t fix the pass rush then I doubt free agency really matters. The Colts will continue the perpetual rebuild. Ballard won’t spend the money to get a difference maker in free agency and you aren’t going to be a contender without a pass rush.

He’s not kicking tires. He’s just getting outbid. That was on a few guys though. But Reddick was like the 30th FA listed. Not exactly Miles Garret. The problem is we are not going to get a 2nd wr, dominant corner, pass rusher, And a TE out of the next draft. He will have more misses. Just a matter if you want to keep delaying or spend some money in FA to fill a couple important weak spots. Because this team goes no where if it can’t defend the pass. And they will need a 2nd wr as teams key on Pittman.

That’s my point, he gets outbid. He has a price for a given FA and doesn’t go beyond. At some point he will have to move past his price if he wants to land someone of significance.

Yeah, not all the time. We’ve signed a fair amount of guys.

Ballard has signed guys as long as he “wins” the contract negotiations. Needs to be low risk and team friendly. That method is why Autry is a Titan.

Which has proven to be a big mistake. But Autry didn’t want to resign here. Whether he felt slighted or he got offered more money regardless. Ballard either learns from his mistakes or he doesn’t. You guys can bitch at me all you want, I’m still going to look at prospective free agents. Do you really expect fans not to do that?

I’m personally not bitching at you. I absolutely agree Ballard should use free agency more effectively than he has. I’ve been fairly critical of Ballard’s method. I don’t see that it has done anything other than prolong a rebuild. We’ll find out a lot about Ballard this off season as others (including the media) have started to question his BS long term dynasty plan. It just doesn’t match the reality of the modern NFL.

On Autry I don’t think it is fair to say he didn’t want to resign here. It sounds like Ballard’s mantra of resign our own is what pissed Autry off. He was effectively one of ours, someone the team would supposedly value, and Ballard wanted to low ball him. Would probably piss me off too.

Absolutely not, look and imagine what the Colts will be like when Ballard signs a player or two that you think will take them to the next level, just be prepared for a gigantic let down when the first day, than the second day of FA goes by and the only signee is a back-up long snapper because Ballard got him for a bargain, and saved a ton of cap space!!