What if we picked up Adalius Thomas and turned him into a pure DE

also, why did we have a great defense 3 seasons ago- look who we lost...

Kearse
Carter (this is one guy I hope we get back this offseason, if he is released)
Rolle (although I don't think this one matters since we have Pacman)
Dyson
Schulters
Smith (in his prime)
Williams (to injury, then FA)

you could even make a case for Kassell, even though he was unathletic- he was a good runstopper and a good tackler, thats 7 starters we lost- the defense will suffer

now lets look at the guys we brought in to replace these guys:

Travis Laboy- good pass rusher, but as I said earlier he's a bad run DE- really, he just needs to be a situational guy

Antwan Odom- the jury is still out on Odom, he's talented, but he is injured often, but I could see him forming into a mold of Kevin Carter

Randy Starks- great rookie season, but the last 2 have been disappoinments, he shows flashes, but he is too inconsistant

Rien Long- another great depth guy, but certainly not a starter

Carlos Hall- I put him in this arguement, because we were supposed to be fine after Kearse left because we had Hall- thanks for the 5th round pick he gave us though

Bo Schobel- he's a Colt now

Lamont Thompson- when he was the backup safety, he was great, but he should have stayed a backup safety

Kyle Van Bosche- a steal out FA, has become one the uptier DE's in the league, and his motor never stops running, a Pro Bowl player in just his first year as a Titan

Pacman Jones- best thing to come out of the salary cap purge other than VY, superstar- much better than Rolle

Reynaldo Hill- a decent player, you really can't complain, especially considering he was a 7th round pick, but he could be upgraded and would be the best backup CB in the NFL

Chris Hope- another great player that we got, this time out of FA

David Thornton- finally we have to great OLB's


...so to tally it up out of the 8 good players we lossed, we really have only succesfully replaced 4, of course the defense will suffer, and we are seeing the results- so what are those positions that need a replacement?- DE, MLB, S, and CB- I wasn't saying great players, but we need BETTER players...

 

"Pacman Jones- best thing to come out of the salary cap purge other than VY, superstar- much better than Rolle" - titansfan9

u seem to be forgettin already just how good rolle was....all-pro probowl quality player....a sound tackler and can cover half the field (in his prime w/ us) he was an amazing player. unless ur talking about antrel rolle from the cardz...which he is better then him but cant say that he is better then samari just yet.

(did u guys know taht he is related to chad and Keyshawn johnson...thats a crazy good family gene pool..lol...)

 

Chief Red Hat had less than 25% to do with late season "magic"

 

I have not seen any "greatness" out of Thornton. He is just another guy in the NFL. He would look better if he had more talent around him, like he did on the Colts.

And, funny how Freeney and the Colts started to stop the run better in the playoffs. I think a lot of their woes in that regard were due to lack of effort. Every year they start the season like gangbusters, fade, then choke in the playoffs. There is no way you can keep perfect focus when 1) you know your in the playoffs and 2) you have past failures there front and center in your mind. Then add that the Tampa Two is not designed to sell out against the run... Any way, long was of saying I would take Freeney in a heartbeat. Quick, disruptive guys end drives, and a defense can scheme around a player's weakness at the point of attack.

I do not know if our use of the MLB is because we are compensating for Sirmon sucking, or if we have Sirmon because we dont want to waste resources on a good MLB (probably the former), but it is silly to say we shouldnt get a good MLB because we wouldnt use him. Of course we would. All the great 4-3 defenses in the NFL feature a great MLB.

 

have you seen Rolle the past two seasons, he may have given us one solid year, but it was a blessing in disguise we cut our ties with him, especially for the price tag he would have wanted from us...

 

Sox...

Well said!!!

 

Well...

Over the last 5 years only Jason Taylor has better numbers (Sacks and Forced fumbles). Freeney is in his prime and he IS THAT GOOD!!!

If Freeney is the reason the Colts run D has stunk this season, how do you explain the DOMINATING RUN D they've had the last 2 games WITH FREENEY? And Larry Johnson is one of the best RB's in the NFL!!!

How do you explain it???

Gut

 

Well...

I think there is a serious shot that Freeney will be a free agent. If the Colts win the Super Bowl, I think they will let Freeney walk (they would have more problems trying to franchise him than sign him). They have the least amount of cap room I think (under 10mil) and if they franchise him, they will use up about that much. Then how do they sign there rookies while letting go all of their free agents? The only two solutions would be for them to sign him which could but Freeney would have no incentive to do so as he knows he could sign the largest non-QB contract in NFL history with virtually every team wanting a Pro Bowl pass rusher...so why would he take a lot less to stay with the Colts (especially if he gets his Super Bowl ring)?

Most likely the most attractive option for the Colts would be to franchise him and trade him quickly to the highest bidder (so the Colts can get at least a 1st rnd pick - or more - and get their cap money back too). Of course, teams can see the situation the Colts are in and may wait them out.

Simeon Rice is also being shopped, but I don't know what he has left. He didn't play the whole season and he's kinda old. On the other hand, he had 14 sacks in 15 games in '05...question is, what does he have left and how much is it gonna cost to find out???

The question on Thomas is really about money and how the DC is gonna use him. If I were running the D I would grab him in a second because he's very versatile and can line up all over the place and he's simply an excellent football player. However, Schwartz would only utilize him as a DE and we don't know how he'd perform playing fulltime there.

Playing what we have at RDE is not an appealing option against the pass or the run.

On the other hand, who's gonna be available at 19 that will make that much of an impact? Outside of Gaines Adams who'll be long gone, is there really an excellent pass rushing prospect?

Given our Schwartz, getting a Dwight Freeney is the best option. Yes we'll have to overpay significantly, but if we got our hands on Freeney and Samuel and then got a FS or MLB in rnd 1, even Schwartz would have a hard time screwing THAT up (and I'd still here we don't have enough talent when the D isn't a top 10).

Point is, we can front load both of their contracts so they get cheaper every year, not more exapensive and have a GREAT D in '07. Combine that with a strong running game and VY's ability to make things happen and you have an excellent recipe for success!

Gut

 

Indy does have some issues they will have to deal with. Cato June I believe is also a FA and they certainly don't want to lose him. McClain said on the Zone he knew for certain (not sure how but he might have inside info) that the Colts were going to franchise Freeney. They will have to let June walk if they do that and certainly try to rework some contracts. Looks like the Colts are very fortunate that the CAP went up like it did or they would really be in hot water. Either way my guess is they find some way to franchise Freeney and I don't see them making any trade with us or at least if I was them I would not want to trade Freeney to a division rival.