Tuesday, July 12, 2011

2011 NFL Draft; Indianapolis Colts

Finally found the time to get around to this. I swear that as the season closes in I'm progressively getting more and more pushed for time.

So the Indianapolis Colts. Since the draft its been postulated in many places that this one was conducted almost exclusively by Chris Polian, son of GM Bill Polian, as Bill sets his boy up for the future. Who said Nepotism was dead in the NFL? Well if what his him, he only had five picks to play with as the Colts traded away their seventh and fifth round picks.

His first choice - if indeed it was his - was Offensive Tackles Anthony Castonzo, Boston College.

Now on the surface this is a pick that makes sense. The Colts O-line is - in my present opinion - pretty under rated. It helps to have Peyton Manning, yes. But they're not too shabby themselves. Some of them are however starting to get a little creaky in the hips. That means fresh blood is needed and that's where Castonzo would seem to fit in perfectly.

Except.... I don't buy it. Or rather, I don't buy Castonzo. Against your average, run of the mill opposition Castonzo did fine. But against some of the tougher opponents Castonzo didn't look like he was in the same league. For me that translates into getting beaten a lot at the next level.

I just don't think that from a technical perspective he will cope. He tends to play very much standing up and can often be found leaning forward, with straight legs, in order to reach out and get at an opponent. What you'd prefer to see is him sitting back a little and just punching from a solid base. Against speed rushers in particular it's going to get nasty.

In round two the Colts came back for more with another Offensive Tackle, this time taking Villanova's Ben Ijalana.

Now Ijalana is a bit of a tricky one to project, because in college he did really well. On film, he looks great. He's a very solid tackle. But... the level of opposition was hardly top drawer. I'm not sure if he's faced a true standout pass rusher in his entire career?

At times then he does look a bit shaky, being a little too happy to let people run deep around him. With faster players in the NFL that could be an issue. He also has a bad habit at times of moving around on the line of scrimmage, once the offense is supposed to be set. A savvy defender jumping when he sees this will get the false start flag everytime.

Overall though, Ijalana seems quite good. Perhaps solid without being spectacular might be the best way to describe him.

In round three the Colts went with LSU defensive tackle tackle Drake Nevis.

Earlier in the year, pre-draft, I was high as a kite on Drake Nevis. Now... not so much. He is quick for his size and he does indeed demonstrate a lot of power on occasions. However the more I watch of Nevis the more I'm worried about his technique.

To give him his due, he does spend a lot of time getting double teamed which doesn't help his cause. Against a single block he's much better at breaking through and getting into the backfield. Consistency though from down to down is a concern.

I think then that much of Nevis's future will rest on how the Colts use him. As a 1 technique defensive tackle he'll probably face a lot of double teams. As a three technique he'll get more opportunities to go one on one with guards and that might just give him the shot he needs.

In round four the Colts took Syracuse running back Delone Carter.

Carter doesn't exactly have blazing speed on the field, but he's pretty tough and his cutting ability is ok. The Colts are probably quite a good fit for Carter, as his attributes fit reasonably well with the demands of their scheme, being a zone style rushing team that also rely on the backs for pass protection and sometimes as receivers.

Finally came corner Chris Rucker from MSU in the sixth round. Annnnnnd your guess is as good as mine. No film. No comment.

So that brings us to the end of the Colts round up. Not a bad draft. But not a great one either.

On another note, I have to confess something. I really cannot be fucked with this anymore. Thanks to the stupid ass lockout pretty much every professional media outlet that covers football has been hit and its been the same for me. People are just not interested in football right now and I don't blame them.

Frankly I'm sick and fucking tired of waiting for the off season to begin. I've long hoped that the owners would lay the players over a particularly pointed and painful barrel and then screw them hard. Peyton Manning does not need to earn another $5 million per year, especially not when it drives up the costs for the teams, which will then be born by the fans.

But right now I couldn't care less who wins. I just want proper football to come back. Because talking about rookies, months after they've all been drafted anyway, is doing my head in. I'm sick and fucking tired of watching college film, especially when I know I have to write out a large post on the players that will be read by not a whole lot of people.

So I've decided I just need a break from this. I'm going into a hibernation of sorts. I'll come back on August 1st or when the new league season kicks off, whichever comes first and review the situation then. Until that point, unless a miracle happens and suddenly hundreds of readers pour in, I'm just taking a break from football.

Apology's to all those who've been reading and following all this time. You can e-mail your discontent to me at keepingthechainsmoving@live.co.uk

I still use that e-mail for other things so I will get it.

1 comment:

man with van in London said...

Its good to have people who express their experience in a more neutral web site, due to the fact that in the official blogs and forums the moderators usually delete the negative opinions people have.