Nice shout out from this week's MMQB:
 

Located here.

I love where this team is going. I don't think that we are yet ready to compete against NO, KC or LAR but I don't know that I see any other team in the league that we cannot beat if we play like we did yesterday.

Walk Worthy,

If we can repeat the play we saw yesterday I honestly think the Colts should only fear the Saints. KC and LAR would be beatable.

I think if the Colts keep playing like this they'll be in the playoffs, though still likely as a WC as it will be tough to catch the Texans. They have an easy schedule down the stretch

But in the playoffs against any good to great QB, we would have to just outscore the opponent. I still don't think the D can stop that type of offense with a solid veteran leader. The Saints would easily put up 40 on this team. The Chiefs as well.

We could always see a repeat of the Chiefs/Colts 2003 playoff game where no one punted, Colts come out on top. The Colts seem to have a knack for just ruining the Chiefs great seasons in the playoffs.

But still a year or more away on the D.

Plus depends now on what happens with Kelley

This is spot on. Offensively I have confidence they can score enough to be competitive with anyone. I still don’t believe in the defense at all though. I think they will struggle against any competent offense with an above average QB. NE, Pitt, K.C., and San Diego would give this D fits in the playoffs. We all knew everything couldn’t be fixed in one year though. I’d love to see them get there, but those early season losses leave little room for error.

If we could somehow spoil the playoffs for KC again I'd count this season a wild massive success. From a team-building perspective it is probably "better" for us to miss the playoffs but with how well they're playing it's too fun to hope for draft picks at this point.

They are putting the poor start behind them. They have gone on a second half run as many of us predicted. Let’s see how they deal with success. Consistency may be the hardest thing to do in the NFL.

This season is coming together perfectly. While it will be entertaining to watch the team make a playoff push in 2018, the real prize is all the improvements that are setting up the 2019 team as a legitimate contender.

Let's not get carried away. Almost every team has had a game or two that they've been dominant. Colts are capable of dominating teams, but they, like any team can be dominated too. This is a good run they're on right now, but they need to continue taking care of business. I want to see them get tested and make a strong come back. They should win their next 2 games and go into the Texans game at 7 and 5. If they can win that game, maybe they can win the division, but the Texans have an easy schedule left.

Yeah we are headed for .500 which is a bad place to be. Not good enough to win, not bad enough to get good draft slots.

How many times would a Pagano led team been blown out after 10 games?

If your GM can’t find talent outside of the top 10 draft slots, you have a bigger issue you need to worry about. It’s never a bad thing when a young team outplays expectations

10 times

I know these guys have a lot of career left, but so far this is looking like one of the best Colts drafts I've ever seen.

If the talent evaluation is good, I don't think that's a big issue. Especially when runs on quarterbacks push good players to the middle of the draft.

It doesn't quite rival the Saints draft last year, but it's close.

I would actually argue the Colts draft is deeper than that ‘17 Saints draft. However, I would also says that the Browns had a slightly better draft class this year, but that’s a product of higher picks.

It's more than just talent evaluation, there are more options, trades,etc with higher picks.

It will be very difficult to match the draft class from this year again as we had such great draft capital, in what was a very deep defensive draft.

The chances of being able to get 5 picks within the first 2 rounds again is very low. I think every GM would hope to be able to make 3 out of 5 picks work out with the selections as high as we had.

Now do i think that we may have aced our selections last year, then yeah we probably have, and then some on the later round selections.

The likes of Franklin and Adams, probably wouldn't be on a team who had any sort of reasonable LB depth to begin with though. We quite literally had no linebackers on the roster, so they came into a good situation this year. Hopefully they continue to see game action and improve and make the roster in future years.

Exactly.

It is much easier for rookies to come in and make impacts on a roster devoid of talent at this positions that come onto a talented roster where they are fighting to even make the 53.

While I think (hope) that our rookies from 2018 will continue to shine in years to come, that in of itself will make it harder for future rookie classes to shine as bright. A low round LB or RB or O-Lineman will have a hard time making as much impact in future years as a Wilkins/Franklin/Adams (and hopefully Cain) did this season because the roster is better.

Anyway, good thread.

Walk Worthy,

The Saints got 4 starters out of that draft. Between Nelson, Leonard, Smith, Turay, and Lewis, the Colts have 4 starters, two of which could win OROY and DROY. That doesn't count Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins, both of whom have found prominent niche roles in this offense, or Deon Cain, who could become a 5th or 6th starter from this draft class next year. Ballard did fantastic work in this draft, hopefully his 2019 draft is similarly loaded. I would hope for 3 starters from next year's class because of how loaded this class was and they only have 3 picks in the first 2 rounds next year.

And yet somehow still reach .500 and screw us out of a better draft slot.

That may not happen this year. Whole lotta crap at QB this draft. On the flip side, might make Brisset more valuable.

Indeed.

Some team might come calling with a high 2nd round pick if they miss out on their desired rookie in the first round (or just value a defensive player higher).

If Luck is healthy, we can have 5 Jim Sorgi's of the world holding the clipboard and running the scout team.

If Luck is not healthy, we are not winning much anyway....even with Brissett, IMO.

I would take a high 2nd round pick for Brissett with the amount of defensive talent in the 2019 draft.

Walk Worthy,

So, as of right now, the Colts draft:

# 15 (1st round)
# 36 (2nd round from NYJ)
# 47 (2nd round)

Add another high 2nd round pick from trading Brissett and you have 4 picks inside of the top 50 to add 1x WR and 3x Defensive Studs to your team.

Use your 3rd, 4th and 5th round picks on more defenders. [EDIT: NFL.com is projecting that we should receive a 4th round comp pick for Moncrief. Another defender selected! :) ]

Use your 6th and 7th rounders on a backup QB and an O-Lineman.

Championship! :)


Works for me.


Walk Worthy,

After leading by 10 at half

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

I was thinking this earlier, but the draft slot really only affects the first rounder. If the scouting staff can come anywhere near to repeating this year's draft success, they could still get three or four starters for the defense no matter where they are picking.

That might be a big IF, but unless this year was a fluke, they really know what to look for to fit the coaches' system.