Preseason Week One quick thoughts
 

1. I don't take much of anything from preseason week 1. Week 3, maybe you take something. But all I care about preseason week 1 is the one-on-one matchups. Can players win those? In other words: it doesn't matter to me that Rock Ya-Sin honors a soft zone drop call and plays 10 yards off on 3rd-and-4 in a vanilla preseason defense. I don't count that as a knock on Ya-Sin.

But when an OL can't win a block, or a DL can't beat a block, or a CB loses in man coverage, I do take some note of that.

2. This isn't a new opinion for me for those who know me, but: Jacoby Brissett isn't very good. That is not basing off one preseason game. That's basing off a world in which people insist he has 2nd round trade value. He doesn't. He's slow to get the ball out and not accurate enough to be a full-time starting QB. Great guy, great arm and one of the better QB2s in the league. BUT that reinforces the gap between QB1s and QB2s, let alone between Luck and Brissett.

3. I think the Colts keep Phillip Walker around to simulate guys like Watson and Mariota in practice. That's the only reason I can figure out, because I've now seen this guy for 3 preseasons where he can't hit the broad side of a barn.

4. Chad Kelly won't make this roster, or probably a roster in general. But a QB like that at least lets you evaluate other players. Unlike Walker.

5. OL will be fine in regular season. As long as Castonzo doesn't get hurt. Woof, Le'Raven Clark is gonna make the roster as his backup and is a huge step down.

6. Kinda a weird night for Quenton Nelson and Braden Smith. Neither played long enough to make much of it, but both seemed uneven. Regardless, I know in an offseason where Reich has been all about architecting a better run game, he cannot be happy with his OL in the first week of preseason.

7. Hard to evaluate the RBs last night given how little they had to work with. You know Mack and Hines are stone-cold roster locks. The battle between Wilkins, Williams and I'm guessing Foreman enters the mix next week will be interesting, in the wake of Ware's injury. I like Wilkins; still not sure why Colts always seem so cold on him. But Williams made a good case last night.

8. WRs showed well overall last night. Funchess is going to be a solid, if unspectacular, addition. Again, mostly just interested in WR5 or WR6 if they carry that many. Obviously Hilton, Funchess, Campbell are locks. You have to figure between his reliable play, blocking and special teams contributions, Rogers is WR4.

Big thing last night was Cain vs Fountain at that WR5 spot. That battle should go down to the wire. It's pointless to call it now, but Fountain had the edge last night.

And of course can't write off Pascal or Marcus Johnson. So much comes down to upside and special teams role.

9. TEs didn't really play in the order I thought they would. Thought we'd see more of Hentges. Travis needs to get back on the field ASAP if he wants a shot.

10. Again, based on the larger trend, not just last night: I'm concerned about the pass-rush. Yes, I get that Houston is a solve. To what extent, we don't yet know. But you would expect Lewis and Turay in particular to make big Year 2 leaps. Lewis was anonymous last night, and Turay maybe won one battle after 5 seconds against a third-string OL, which Barkley evaded anyway.

I don't judge off this one game, but I do think it's problematic Turay doesn't look better than he does at this point.

11. I was thrilled with all of the linebackers who will be remotely relevant to the final roster. Think this corps checks all of the boxes and these guys won their battles tonight. Walker, Speed, Okereke. All looked good. Walker and Okereke is a fascinating battle.

12. I can't wait until Eberflus can take off the gloves and have some fun with this defense. While I have pass rush concerns, I still love the overall athleticism of the front seven. So many guys who can cover so much ground and have great wingspan. Think the pressure package potential of this group is through the roof. Firmly believe, in my heart of hearts, this is going to be a fun defense to watch. Maybe not a top-10 overall defense, but a good defense that plays a fun brand of football.

13. Similar to LB, no real concerns at CB for the guys who will actually play. Wilson looked good -- no clue whose fault the coverage bust was, but he won his 1-on-1s all night. Ya-Sin is going to be good. Encouraged by his play in man coverage, and not making much of soft zone asks. Not a perfect night for the rookie, but you can easily see where this group is a solid 4-strong at the top.

14. I'm similarly confident at safety. I don't make much of a Derrick Kindred taking an awful fourth quarter angle and cutting himself, basically. That's preseason for you. I do just look at the play and skillsets of Hooker, Geathers, Willis and Farley and think: yeah, they're good there.

The George Odum thing is still so weird to me. We always hear about how much Ballard loves him. I personally have never been remotely impressed by him, and seeing him draw another flag last night was an "of course" moment.

15. I want Hines to stay healthy because I think he factors into the offense, but I wish he'd have taken a chance and tried to return the really returnable punt. I think Rogers ends up as the guy, but I'd like to at least see what guys not named Pascal or Rogers can do on kickoffs.

I just want to thank you for this. It was a great thing to wake up to. Agreed on linebackers looking great and physical, Cain and Fountain both looked good. We need to improve offensive line depth in a big way. Defensive backfield may be a strength. Several times we were close to a coverage sack. Best part, nobody got hurt. Thanks again. Football, even shitty preseason football, is great to have on my TV again

Some stuff just seems like a head-scratcher to me. Like releasing Jon Simon last year to keep Zaire Frankline and Mat Thomas. Neither of whom should probably make the roster this year. We could have used the extra pass rush Simon provided last year also. Not that Simon is complaining with his new SB ring. Still I have to think these decisions are made based on input from the coaches.

Are you thinking of Zaire Franklin and Matt Adams?

I think Zaire is a good special-teamer and Adams is a pretty good thumper backer. Both big reasons why special teams coverage was so strong last year.

Turay banged up his shoulder on the second day of camp and then was held out for about a week of practices.

He could be:

1) not completely at 100% - although with how the coaching staff has been so ultra conservative with injuries this camp, probably not this option.

2) trying to "catch up" after missing those practice sessions.

I was pretty disappointed in the offense, obviously. Buffalo punched us in the chin from the very first snap, which was a 3 yard loss with a holding penalty.

Seemed like the whole team was flat. I imagine Reich was pretty disappointed with the whole game.

The O line wasnt complete, no Mack, no TY, and Brissett looked bad?

The Colts had nothing to gain playing this game except evaluate the film for individual match ups. Did anyone important get hurt so they may miss the first game?

I liked the young defenders. That Speed kid really brings it.

I'm telling you Speed will be the SAM. Now that might mean he only gets 30% of the defensive snaps in a game, but he will win the job.

Yeah, I think that's almost foregone now tbh, unless they try Walker there with Okereke coming in hot at MIKE.

Okereke vs Walker fascinates me. I think Leonard/Okereke/Speed is your interchangeable core of the future, but Walker is too good on run downs to leave off the field. Good problem to have. Imagine some of it will be game-by-game: Okereke would be the better play vs Chiefs, for example, whereas Walker may get more snaps vs Jags and Titans.

It may be just me, but I'm especially rooting for Okereke because of the way Pat Mcafee announced him at the draft. Nothing against Walker, and it's a nice problem to have at MLB.

Kelly was the only Colts QB who seemed to know what the hell he was doing.

Other than that, not sure there is much to say in general and certainly not much good to say about this game.

We need to keep Fountain and Cain on the 53.
Rogers is so far behind them in receiving ability that his vanilla play on special teams should not get him on the team.

And yes, Brissett is just an average backup in this league...nothing special.
He was a late 3rd rounder for NE and that's about all we can get for him...if that.

We need to keep Kelly and develop him for the year. If he improves and keeps his nose clean then he becomes Andrew's backup next year when Brissett thankfully moves on. If not, we can draft a backup and sign a vet to fill in until the young QB develops.

Rogers is entrenched as the slot receiver, and he can play outside, and he can play special teams. The coaches love him. I don’t think the fans do because they always hear how well he does in camp then disappears in the regular season games. Cain and Fountain only play outside. Fountain I think is behind Pascal and Johnson. I think he is number 8 in the depth chart so even if they go 6 WRs, he won’t make it in.

Not sure where Fountain is on depth chart. Colts originally liked him more than Cain, otherwise why draft him a round earlier. Ballard loves developmental types from small schools. Fountain certainly is developing. I've read he has a great work ethic. He is a big, athletic fast receiver. If he keeps this up for the next few games who knows? One thing I'm interested in is if they might try Fountain returning kicks. He returned a couple in the East-West Shrine game. This is going to be interesting as this team whittles down to 53. Nice.

If Campbell comes back strong Rogers entrenchment may be a little less firm

Also a factor: I don't think the Colts can get away with stashing either Cain or Fountain on the PS.

It does feel like an either/or to me, despite their differing skill sets. I just think Rogers/Pascal is your WR4.

I think you are probably correct about only one making the roster, although I'm not sure this is in stone. I think Fountain may have the inside track. Several reasons. First he was drafted one round earlier, the Colts liked his upside better at the time. Both are developmental types, otherwise why 5th and 6th round? Fountain's development seems to be around running routes and being consistent. He is much improved from last year. Cain's main issue was dropped passes. From what I read this continues to be an issue. I have no idea what Ballard/Reich are thinking on this. They may keep both or neither (doubt that). I wouldn't forget Hogan or Johnson either.

Another player people seem to think will not make the team that I think does is Tell. Long, athletic corner making the switch from safety. Hairston (Ballard must have hated seeing a TD thrown that he couldn't break up because of reach) and Collins seem to be headed in the wrong direction. Its a reason to watch pre-season.

Don't forget, in addition to catching and special teams play, blocking also matters a lot for WRs in this system.

Pascal is superb there.

Yep It is so damn nice to be talking about what guys are good at and how that is going to make cutting them painful. I have no idea who will stick buy am really enjoying watching and reading about these guys competing. Ballard has got to be smiling.

Whoever we dump will likely end up on other teams. Krishawn Hogan could make it to the PS. But I doubt Cain does, Fountain is a possibility. Same with Marvell Tell, teams likely know who a USC safety is and I doubt they can stash him there.

The question is, do you think Fountain and Cain are done growing or have a higher ceiling compared to Pascal, Rogers, Johnson. Will they keep 5 or 6, they have talked about keeping five. They want four running backs and four TEs. Then how many secondary guys?

TY, Funchess, Cambell, Rogers are likely locks. The next in line is Pascal I believe, then Cain, then Johnson, then Fountain. According to reports by Kevin Bowen. I'm not a Rogers fan, he came on later in the year, but I feel like we have seen his peak. Also because they used draft picks on those guys, are they more weighted? I don't know if they are. I feel like Cain and Fountain are just starting to emerge, but will they be better players in the long run that the other guys.

As for the special teams stuff. I feel special teams are so neutered these days, as long as you don't have utter incompetence there, you should be ok. I don't think there will be room for a special teams ace like Milton this year.

OC was on radio a bit ago, praised WR coach. Talked about the development he has seen, how impressive it has been, and made what I thought was a VERY telling; "those guys are all out there making plays everyday in camp. Fountain had a great day yesterday, Cain has been coming on, Johnson is a guy rising. I'm probably forgetting someone but they are all out there competing for those 5/6 WR spots".

I read that to say they are probably keeping 6- and by the sounds of it, man they are going to have a #2.5 down at the 5-6 slot.

TY, Funchess, PC, Rogers, Fountain, Cain would seem to have roster spots at this point.

Cain and Fountain are an interesting dilemma. There is a fair chance that one of them might hit it big, not so much that they both due. But which one? They both are hard workers, both are big, both are fast and both seem to be working on mental aspects of their game (Cain concentrating on the ball and Fountain learning route recognition). We get to see how they handle the pressure of competition as an added benefit. Now what do you do if, as it may appear, they both continue to make progress?

No way is Rogers entrenched as the slot receiver or a lock to make the roster.

Ideally Campbell is the slot WR. Let's not forget that TY can be pretty proficient in the slot as well. Reich will employ multiple personnel groupings based on the opponent. I could easily see a grouping with TY in the slot and Funchess and Cain or Fountain on the outside. Hines will also get some work in the slot.

Rogers best chance of making the team, is the same as it's always been...beat out all other contenders for KR, PR or both.

Based on what? Everything I've read or heard said Rogers is the starter and is making the roster. Cambell is hurt and isn't even practicing, he isn't unseating him anytime soon.

Thought about starting a new thread but figured it could be discussed here as well since there is a lot of roster talk going on:

https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/sta...24495106351111


Basically - other teams have noticed the Colts roster and maybe don't want to wait for the waiver wire....if the other team is targeting someone, they will try to make a trade. Obviously the return will be a low, lotto type draft pick but it might be another way of minimizing losses on cut down day.

Good point. This year will be telling, if the draft pans out even half as well as last year did, the value of trading for picks goes up because we have a front office that knows what to do with them.

I find this odd too, he had 53 catches for almost 500 yards last year and averaged 9.2 YPR. I'm certainly no expert but aside from his ridiculous 2004 season, those numbers are not far off from a typical season from Brandon Stokely, perhaps the best slot receiver of the Manning era.

l think that who makes the team will be telling. If we keep both Cain and Fountain (something that if they both continue to improve I am hoping we do) it tells me that we are 'shooting for the moon' athletically. At this point in this team development I think that is appropriate. Why 'waste' picks on developmental types if you are not going to keep them if they start to develop? In todays game we don't need 1967 Travis Williams (yes I saw him) returning kick offs, they are not really a big part of the game now. Punts are another issue and that can be a huge one. That is my one caveat, we need someone who has sure hands back there on punts. Not sure if any of these new guys are capable.

We used a second round draft pick on Campbell. I am assuming that the plan was for him to be in the slot. Tells me they were not thrilled with Rogers as the long term answer there. I'm not sure that anything, besides the first three receivers is set in stone

I have a hard time believing that one of Cain or Fountain ends up cut, after Fountain has worked to improve himself and Cain has only just come back from injury. I would expect Funchess or Rogers to be cut before them unless one of them is proving himself indispensable, and that isn’t even remotely the case.

There is 0.00000% Devin Funchess is cut.

Yep. I wouldn't be surprised at all with a trade or two.

You go ahead and pin your hopes on Rogers, who has zero upside. I'll pin mine elsewhere.

I'm over Rogers and Philly Walker. The Colts know what they have in both of them, and it isn't enough to keep either of them over other options.

Agreed, not happening.

I’m not pinning my hopes on Rogers, I’m not even a fan of the guy. I’m reading the daily reports by Holder, Bowen, and Chappel and going off what they are saying. I am wondering what you are basing your opinion on? If that is just what you believe that is fine, I'm just basing mine on the info they are providing.

1. The guy is healthy and consistently makes catches, in practice at least.
2. The guy can play the slot and outside. None of the other guys in contention can do that, they are all outside receivers.
3. He is the only one who seems to be able to catch on special teams despite trying everyone from Hines to Pascal to Cambell out there.
4. The coaches all speak glowingly of him.

Do I think Cain and Fountain offer more upside, sure. I just don't think they are showing it enough to supplant him.

10 million dollar guy? I don't know, we will see how the season goes. Sin is giving all he can handle though. Maybe it just speaks to how good Sin is going to be.

Hopefully so. TY Hilton was also giving Rock many compliments earlier in camp.

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1157754947896795142

The reports that I'm seeing is Cain and Fountain have been having great performances at TC.

Like I said, I have no problem with Rogers making the team, but at the end of the day he will earn it through his special teams play...not what he does at WR.

Rookies and guys that are breaking out always seem to dominate camp news. People like to hear about that stuff. Especially when those two guys did nothing the previous year. We haven't heard much about Houston, but what I have read is that the guy is a badass and he will be a good addition. Do I think Turay and Banagu will move in front of him because I have heard more about them, no. Just like Sin isn't supplanting Desir or Moore anytime soon.

The coaches dont stick him there on the depth chart for shits and giggles, he has had a good camp and has been very consistent. Which is what they keep saying Fountain and Cain need to do. The special teams just cements his addition.

I mean, that and the fact Rogers is a proven ~500 yard receiving guy against real NFL competition. That still matters.

Look, gun to head, I probably keep: Hilton, Funchess, Campbell (if not PUP'd?), Fountain, Cain, Pascal. Just because I believe the ST value of a Pascal > the ST value of a Hairston, for instance.

But it's a total crapshoot.

Rogers kinda had a raw deal last year because he was forced to play outside receiver and he had never done it before. He is better in the slot, but now he can play both in a pinch. The guys is what he is, a solid dependable receiver. It isn't sexy and he doesn't have some huge upside with crazy athletic ability, but they keep bringing in guys to beat him out and he is still here.

I like Pascal's run blocking more than his ST contributions. I just think ST's have been so neutered by the rules they should get rid of it, or figure out something that equals the onside kick. Returns and blocks are so rare now, there has to be a big breakdown for something to happen.

I would probably go with 6 guys, get Fountain and Cain on there simply because you have draft picks invested in them and to me those last 4 guys are a wash. See if you can get Pascal, Johnson on the practice squad. Although Hogan and Hart are more realistic candidates.