Dee Ford
 

It was just reported that KC will not use the Franchise Tag on Dee Ford and will allow him to hit the open Market. How much should be pay? The Franchise Tag is 15 million.

Does he fit the Demarcus Lawrence role in this defense? They're of similar size, but Ford has been playing Bob Sutton 3-4 OLB.

Ballard should know him well, as I assume he scouted Ford and watched him for three years in KC. Seems weird they would not want to pay him.

He's definitely a guy to look at as a pass rusher for the Colts, along with Frank Clark. Signing both would be interesting and reminiscent of the 2013 Seattle Seahawks, who went out and signed the top two pass rushers in free agency (Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril) and combined that with a young, up and coming back seven group to make one of the most formidable defenses in the league for a long time. Ford would fit the speed rusher role in this defense, and Clark would fit the power end/pass down UT at times role in this defense. That would also allow Ballard to focus on BPA in the draft, at a cost only of money and cap space, resources which the Colts have plenty. I hope that that is the offseason plan, short of Demarcus Lawrence hitting free agency.

Frank Clark is a piece of shit and should not be a Colt.

Here he is tracking down and sucker-punching his teammate in TC.

Here he is forearming a player in the throat after the whistle.

Here's the account of how he got drunk and beat up his college girlfriend in a hotel room. He was kicked off the Michigan football team.

Talented player but I don't think he fits this team.

Yeah, fuck Frank Clark to be clear.

maybe they just dont want to pay him tag money.

Maybe also they think they have other needs to be addressed and would look to get a compensatory pick for him perhaps.

2019 Free Agents / Edge Defenders:

43 combined = 13 sacks / 30 QB Hits, 55 tackles, 28 years old = OLB Dee Ford / KC / 3-4 OLB
41 combined = 14 sacks / 27 QB Hits, 42 tackles, 26 years old = DE Frank Clark / SEA / 4-3 DE
35 combined = 11 sacks / 24 QB Hits, 64 tackles, 27 years old = DE DeMarcus Lawrence / DAL / 4-3 DE
33 combined = 09 sacks / 24 QB Hits, 45 tackles, 26 years old = OLB Za'Darius Smith / BAL / 3-4 OLB
30 combined = 09 sacks / 21 QB Hits, 47 tackles, 26 years old = OLB Jadeveon Clowney / HOU / 3-4 OLB
20 combined = 04 sacks / 16 QB Hits, 52 tackles, 26 years old = OLB Preston Smith / WAS / 3-4 OLB

Those seem to be the cream of the crop when it comes to 4-3 rush DEs or 3-4 rush OLBs.

There are a lot of 3-4 DEs that had good production in 2018 (Trey Flowers/NE, Henry Anderson/NYJ, Brandon Copeland/NYJ, Benson Mayowa/ARI) but while we might be interested in signing those guys as interior defenders, I don't know how well their pass rush matches up when moving inside.

Unless Lawarence hits the market, we could do a lot worse than Dee Ford. He seems to be trending up:

2018 = 55 tackles / 13 sacks / 29 QB Hits / 13 TFL / 7 FF (5th year option)
2017 = On IR after only 6 games (4th year in league)
2016 = 38 tackles / 10 sacks / 17 QB Hits / 12 TFL / 1 FF (3rd year in league)

I like the idea of adding him to Sheard / Turray / Muhammad and then drafting one more kid high into the group (1st or 2nd round) for competition. See what shakes out.

Walk Worthy,

Trey Flowers is a 4-3 DE. The NE defense is kind of its own thing though so while he seems like a good player I can't hazard a guess as to if he'd do well in the prime pass rusher role here. Chandler Jones was up-and-down on pass rushing in NE, but has been a terror since going to AZ.

I wonder about maybe trying Anthony Barr. He was a high-end edge rush prospect in the draft, picked by the Vikings, but he's been playing 4-3 OLB. No surprise, his pass rush production hasn't been that great. He would not cost much and might have a lot of upside as a 4-3 DE.

Za'Darius Smith is PFF's "most-underrated FA". We signed a PFF "secret superstar" in Samson Satele years ago. So clearly Smith is going to suck and we should not sign him. Yes I know my analysis is fantastic.

David Irving will be cheap and has played well in the Dallas defense. Solid chance he will get busted again for pot and get suspended, so no big investment is likely there.

Ezekiel Ansah is a FA but is 30 and has been hurt a lot.

Brandon Graham is 31 and is good but not great.

So. It doesn't seem like it gets much better than Dee Ford in FA.

Yeah, those PFF ratings I take with a major grain of salt.

Here were their rankings for the linebackers in the 2018 draft. Notice where Leonard is in those rankings.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/new...2018-nfl-draft

Don't forget that Ballard was part of the front office when KC drafted Ford. He's spoken positively about Ford in the past, so I wouldn't be surprised if he's a target. However, Ballard will have a number in mind and it's probable that Ford will get a premium from some other desperate team (cough, NYJ, cough).

I have not watched a KC game all year except the one against Indy

But he caused problems for this offense all game.

And its a huge area of need.

Very true, however some guys want to go to a contender and unlike last year we are a much more attractive prospect. Don't know what Fords motives are but I'm sure Ballard has a few more rounds of ammo that he didn't have last year to close a deal if the numbers are close enough.

I am intrigued because he's a speed rusher. And pending Turay results (which looked really bad in the 2nd half of the year), that's a skillset Colts do not have.

Isn't part of the point of building a locker room/culture/whatever you want to call it being able to take on a talented player that other teams can't handle and get good production out of them? His history isn't great, but that likely means you can get him at a discount and put him on a short leash.

I'm saying I don't want to cheer for him. I don't want the guy on this team. It doesn't matter if the locker room can "handle" him.

Dee Ford reminds me of a lower motor Robert Mathis. Not that, that is a bad thing.

But, if Ballard thinks that he can transition to DE, then I'm all for it.

Unless there's some league-wide boycott of him I'm unaware of, some team is going to sign him. His size and length make him a great fit for the power end position in the defensive scheme the Colts are running, and 2019 will be his age 26 season. Given the points you mentioned, I don't think he's a good human being, but as a football player, I'd rather his talents be helping the Colts than, say, the Cheaters. I'd also rather win championships than have the highest character locker room, and Clark (as well as Ford) brings something the Colts sorely lacked in 2018, effectiveness as a pass rusher. Signing both of those players would allow Ballard to purely focus on BPA in the draft and otherwise try to find value in free agency.

A. No way SEA lets Clark walk.

B. If they do, I would rather see the Colts have a 5 sack difference between Clark and whoever they add in lieu of Clark than ever pay that piece of shit.

Everyone has to draw their own line somewhere. For me, Clark is on the other side of the line. I wouldn't be able to enjoy a good play by him because it would always be at the back of my mind that he is the type of person that suckerpunches teammates in practice and drunkenly beats up women. That isn't enjoyable to me. I don't need choir boys, but there's a line and that's just how I choose to approach my enjoyment of the game.

Do same with Kareem Hunt ? :cool: I don't think Ballard will go for either.

He probably won't.

Some people think you have to cheat to win. I am not one of them. I think that if you have good athletes with high character, then you get championships.