Makes sense. An established disruptive beast in Buckner or a rookie that has yet to prove he is ready for the NFL.

Ballard isn’t done adding pieces... I’m gonna enjoy the ride.

I guess it makes more sense if you believe this is your year. I’m not sure I agree. They must have more confidence in Rivers than I do. May also mean they aren’t done in Free Agency. Would also explain the rumored interest in Berry. Vet presence, can get up to speed quickly.

Out of the 32 ranked offensive lines the Chargers ranked 29th. Last year. The Colts ranked 3rd.

I like our chances that Rivers will perform well behind the Colts line compared to the bad one he had.

In addition:

IND = 133.1 ypg rushing = 07th in NFL

LAC = 090.8 ypg rushing = 28th in NFL

If we can add:
- Veteran FA wide receiver
- Rookie wide receiver picked in 2nd or 3rd round
- Rookie tight end picked in the middle rounds
- Quality offensive line depth

Then I think that Rivers will have the line, running game and receiving options to do some real damage in 2020.

And none of that precludes us from continuing to add pieces to the defense via free agency (come on D.J. Reader! Come to Indy!), another 2 picks in the 2nd / 3rd rounds and depth pieces with lower round picks.

Rapoport tweeted yesterday that DJ Reader agreed to terms with Cincinnati

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1240014796948484097

It doesn't seem like that long ago the Colts would go weeks/months without rushing for 100 yards/game. The team is definitely improving.

Its not that simple. Gil Brandt said going from college to the pros is like going from 3rd grade to MIT grad school.

We can get a 1-tech in the draft. A guy like Raekwon Davis will be around.

Seems more like they would go entire seasons.

I'm too lazy to look it up but I think maybe they did. Running game was dreadful mainly because of the line. McGlynn and Satelle days... smh

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1240410183865679878

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1240411283167621120

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/st...10415592546304

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1240411687037140995

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/st...12011927875585

Cant wait to watch this Defense!

Huh?

If you're curious how the 49ers fans view this trade, below is a thread from a 49ers forum that's kind of fun to read. Its a very long thread beginning when Buckner was initially drafted, but my link should go right to the page (page 406) where the trade was announced:

https://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/n...colts/page406/

The thread goes on and on (and on), but the gist of it is essentially "WTF". Good reading for the offseason.

Literally every 49er fan hated to see this guy go it seems.

Definitely a good read..... many saying WTF....lol

Or rather have kept Buckner than Armstead.... love it!!

Seems they feel robbed. Makes me all the happier.

I don't think that he will be getting Justin Houston's 99 anytime soon.

It's kind of amazing how so many people think $21M is too much to pay a young, pro bowl quality DT. Do they not understand that the salary cap is going to keep rising every year? Quality, starting QBs will be making $30M+ soon. It's not 2010 anymore. I still love that trade!

Well they just paid a guy in Armstead that has basically 1 great season with the other 4 years just ok. We got a guy that has been consistently disruptive.

Probably why many 49er fans would rather have kept Buckner over Armstead.

Time will tell. I think we are gonna look back and see that 21 million per well spent.:cool:

I read several posts from SF fans calling Buckner a franchise player. I love the sound of that!

Here's 18 mins of Deforest Buckner highlights...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCVet2SDLU4&t=353s

Buckner and Houston are going to be deadly.

I think the last time I was this excite about a trade was when Dickerson came to Indianapolis.

Buckner is now 99.

Houston changed his number to 50 (his number was 50 with KC)


Few other number updates:

Rivers is 17.
Ya-Sin is 26.
Rhodes is 27.
Carrie is 38.
Walker is 54.
Day is 91.


https://twitter.com/Colts/status/1247301881434714113

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote a column about the 49er's off season including the decision to trade Buckner.


You can read the entire article via the link and I have excerpted a few quotes below:

https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/05/04/jo..._medium=social

o


Bill Polian: Colts Have Added Most Important Person on Defense in DeForest Buckner

(By Kevin Bowen)

https://www.1075thefan.com/featured/...orest-buckner/

o

o


INDIANAPOLIS – To become a true Super Bowl team, Bill Polian knew his defense needed an upgrade at that position.

Fittingly, some 14 years later, in the same role Polian was in for the Colts, Chris Ballard was sold on making a seismic trade, once he saw that position (and that player) impact the Super Bowl.

For Polian, it was giving away a second-round pick during a 2006 in-season trade for defensive tackle Booger McFarland.

For Ballard, it was sending the No. 13 overall pick this past March to the 49ers for defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.

Nearly a decade and a half span the two trades, but the value for that position, in virtually the same Tampa 2 defense, remains.

“The most important person in the defense, the key player is the 3-technique, the guy who is closest to the ball,” Polian, the Hall of Famer and former Colts President, explains. “He does the most disrupting. And he’s the guy who triggers the pass rush.

“We know, based on experience we’ve had with both Peyton (Manning) and (Tom) Brady, (Jim) Kelly and (Dan) Marino, almost any quarterback, but all the elite ones, hate people under their legs, hate people who can rush up the middle. The only people who have had success against Brady over time are those who can rush up the middle. If you can put pressure from the inside in the passing game, then the (Dwight) Freeney’s and (Robert) Mathis’ can really go to work.

“The fact that Buckner is an elite pass rusher from the inside, and also an elite run player gives you the opportunity for a really key defense. We did not get to a Super Bowl level until we got Bogger McFarland. And that’s on me. I didn’t do a good enough job of getting someone like that. Chris Ballard has learned that lesson and went out and got Buckner and that’s going to be huge for that defense.”

As Ballard watched Buckner in Super Bowl LIV, the GM fell more and more in love.

-It was the impactful sacks (1.5 for Buckner in the game) Buckner had against Patrick Mahomes.

-It was the constant high-level of effort, seeing a 6-7, 300-pounder stay alive in plays all over the field.

-It was Buckner still delivering pressure in the 4th quarter, showing off rare stamina for a defensive tackle.

When the Colts made the trade for Buckner, Ballard wanted everyone to go watch how he played in the Super Bowl.

“All you have to do was put on the Super Bowl,” Ballard said. “The great players produce in the great games. Just watch the Super Bowl, that guy played his ass off. And he was disruptive the entire game.”

Obviously, Ballard hopes Buckner (who is a far more consistent and disruptive player than McFarland was) can help the Colts get to the point where Polian and company got to more than a decade ago.

Jim Irsay certainly has fond memories of those days, and that 2006 season, in which the defense did plenty of heavy lifting in capturing Super Bowl LI.

The Owner is quite happy to have a difference maker back at such a critical position.

“He’s special,” Irsay said of Buckner, when speaking to Colts.com earlier this offseason. “The long arms, the knee bend, to be 6-7, to play inside like that is remarkable. He’s never on the ground, he’s so sudden. Even though he’s 6-7, he’s just really, really, really a remarkable athlete, and quite frankly, I use this this word carefully ...... but I just can’t even think of anyone that was like him. To be that size and to play inside like that, I mean, you have to realize what kind of athlete you have to be. And he gets double teamed and he still makes plays, because he’s never on the ground and he never quits."

“He’s special, and he’s a special leader.”

o

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DeForest Buckner Proves He Belongs in Defensive Player of the Year Conversation

(By Joel A. Erickson)

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...ar/3924184001/

o

Thanks for the post. If you want some further real-world confirmation of the success of this trade, check out the 49ers fanboards to read some of their whining. Here are a few quick examples if you're curious:

https://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/n...colts/page471/

https://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/n...search=buckner

https://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/n...colts/page471/

https://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/n...colts/page470/

But apparently not the Pro Bowl? That's a snub if there ever was one.

I know I shouldn't give a fuck about pro bowl selections...but how the fuck did Buckner not make it.

Lol, some of the are S-A-L-T-Y. I don’t blame them.

You just don’t trade guys like Buckner. You find a way to keep them.

Small market bs as usual. Guy was robbed.

Never understood why they signed Armstead and not Buckner.

I hope he is pissed off until the colts win the super bowl

o


in 8 seasons between 2012 and 2019, Russell Wilson has never received a single vote for MVP ...... not one single vote.



Russell Wilson Reacts to the Fact that He's Never Received a Single MVP Vote in his 8-Year Career

(By John Breech)

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/r...t-year-career/

o

I can actually see the logic in it from a pure money ball perspective. They needed space to resign Kittle, Warner, etc and were up against the cap. Buckner wanted at least 20 million per. Armstead was a little cheaper and they talked themselves into the notion that they could make up that difference with their stacked d line.

What they didn’t calculate was the type of player Defo is. You don’t replace incredibly durable, all pro, defensive captains like him, especially when he’s only 25.

The fact that a guy like Ballard jumped on that deal should have clued them in that it was a bad one.

West coast bias. They play too late for the east coast to watch games. It’s apparent in college sports too.

Armstead is two years older too. Kim law looks like he is going to be pretty good though. But like most dline, might take a couple years.

I’m thinking scenarios. They were losing one of them. I wonder if they offered Armstead and we said no. So the 49ers thought we can keep Buckner, or we can keep Armstead and the 13 pick.

I'm sure that's exactly what they were thinking. That's smart team building. Getting that pick allowed them to essentially draft his replacement in Kinlaw (who the Colts probably would've taken at 13 had they retained the pick) and still keep most of their group together, including the most talented of the bunch in Bosa. The Colts ended up with a great deal out of this, but I don't think the 49ers "lost" this trade. They got what they needed out of it.