Keenan Allen is a Colt

[Oldcolt]

Originally Posted by ukcolt

You don’t feel that DE is a weakness?

I tend to agree with you that de is an issue. By that i mean (and i am guessing you also mean) our pass rush. We do not have an alpha pass rusher, have been trying for years but keep missing. What we do have, however, is possibly two of the best cover corners in the NFL. You can play a ton of man to man and not only give the pass rush maybe a half a second more to get to the QB (hopefully) but it also opens up your ability to dial up different pass rushes through unual blitzes-something Lou is very good at. So while i agree our DE position isnt the greatest it may not have to be if the rest of the defense plays up to what we are paying them (and gave up to get them)

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by Puck

Noah Compton
@nerlens_
·
3h
Keenan Allen vs Michael Pittman Jr. over the past two seasons:

Allen: 1,521 receiving yards and 11 TDs on 151 receptions
MPJ: 1,592 receiving yards and 10 TDs on 149 receptions


https://x.com/nerlens_/status/2089683732768899141?s=20

I was about to quote your other post to bring this up after I saw it. Crazy 1:1 stat line.

He'll be a savvy chain mover and security blanket for the most part—anything more that he still has at 34 is icing. Dulin still the one best equipped to try and replicate the blocking we lose with Pittman.

[Hoopsdoc]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

What the hell took so long?

My guess is a vet like Keenan Allen doesn’t wanna go through an entire training camp. And quite frankly, probably doesn’t need to.

[apballin]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

I tend to agree with you that de is an issue. By that i mean (and i am guessing you also mean) our pass rush. We do not have an alpha pass rusher, have been trying for years but keep missing. What we do have, however, is possibly two of the best cover corners in the NFL. You can play a ton of man to man and not only give the pass rush maybe a half a second more to get to the QB (hopefully) but it also opens up your ability to dial up different pass rushes through unual blitzes-something Lou is very good at. So while i agree our DE position isnt the greatest it may not have to be if the rest of the defense plays up to what we are paying them (and gave up to get them)

Any chance we sign Bosa?

[YDFL Commish]

Originally Posted by apballin

Any chance we sign Bosa?

I don't want him. Unfortunately, he's about all that is left.

[ukcolt]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

I tend to agree with you that de is an issue. By that i mean (and i am guessing you also mean) our pass rush. We do not have an alpha pass rusher, have been trying for years but keep missing. What we do have, however, is possibly two of the best cover corners in the NFL. You can play a ton of man to man and not only give the pass rush maybe a half a second more to get to the QB (hopefully) but it also opens up your ability to dial up different pass rushes through unual blitzes-something Lou is very good at. So while i agree our DE position isnt the greatest it may not have to be if the rest of the defense plays up to what we are paying them (and gave up to get them)

Latu hopefully takes the next step. But I am not convinced by anyone else on the roster at all at DE. Which was also the same situation last year.

Now yes there may be a baseline increase in the pressure rates based on the play by our defensive backs. But I am not sure that will be because the DE’s have played any better.

[apballin]

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

I don't want him. Unfortunately, he's about all that is left.

I don’t want him either but he can only help at this point and he’s an experienced guy as opposed to relying on all the young guys to provide pass rush especially in big key games

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

Originally Posted by Puck

Jordan Schultz
@Schultz_Report
BREAKING: The #Colts are signing 6x Pro Bowl WR Keenan Allen to a 1-year deal worth up to $8.32M, multiple sources tell me.

A big-time weapon for Daniel Jones, as Allen reunites with HC Shane Steichen from their days together with the Chargers in a deal done by
@ZekeSandhu
of
@KlutchSports
.

https://x.com/Schultz_Report/status/...819052087?s=20

Looks like a big portion of that $8M number was incentives-based.

Here are more details about the contract from Spotrac:


https://x.com/spotrac/status/2090751674860110032

WR Keenan Allen's contract with the Colts is a 1-year, $3.32M base value deal, including $2.81M fully guaranteed.

The 34-year-old gets $30k per game active, and an additional $5M could be earned through incentives in 2026.

[Colts And Orioles]

o


Josh Downs Doesn’t Feel Threatened by Keenan Allen Signing ...... He’s Excited About It

(By James Boyd)

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/752...allen-falcons/



WESTFIELD, Ind. — Josh Downs didn’t feel threatened Thursday when he took the field with Keenan Allen ...... he felt invited. A receiver he once studied from afar is now his mentor after the Indianapolis Colts signed Allen to a one-year deal earlier this week.

To some, mostly fantasy football enthusiasts, Allen’s arrival was viewed as a detriment to Downs, as the 2023 3rd-round pick enters the final year of his rookie deal. This was supposed to be the year in which Downs saw his target share increase exponentially thanks to the departures of AD Mitchell and Michael Pittman Jr, who were traded to the New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively ...... Downs had even hinted at that notion himself this summer.

But could the acquisition of Allen shrink that opportunity, or enhance it ???

“I feel like the more weapons you have, the better it can be (for me),” Downs told The Athletic after Thursday’s joint-practice with the Atlanta Falcons. “However it’s supposed to work out is however it’s supposed to work out. With Keenan coming here, we add a great veteran to the room, a guy who can help in as many ways as possible. You just never know how things could go ...… I’m excited for the future.”

Downs personally relayed that excitement to Allen on Wednesday, telling the 6-time All-Pro, “I got a lot of my shit from you” just hours after Allen inked his new deal. They didn’t share the field much on Thursday since Allen only took part in a handful of team drills. But the hope, Downs said, is that when Allen gets up to speed, they’ll become a nightmare tandem, particularly on 3rd downs.

And if Allen needed a reminder of what that could look like, Downs gave him a promising glimpse as he imposed his will in several one-on-one drills against Falcons defensive backs, followed by a key 3rd-down catch in the final 11-on-11 drill.

Each team’s offense started at its own 25-yard line, and was tasked with leading its unit downfield for a game-winning field goal with just 1:05 left on the clock and one timeout. After Colts quarterback Daniel Jones started the drive with a short completion to Downs, Indianapolis's offense stalled following an incomplete pass and a false start. Facing 3rd-and-long, Downs got them back on track by winning his match-up and jetting downfield. The only reason why he didn’t catch the pass was because Falcons cornerback A.J. Woods bumped him too early, resulting in a 40-yard defensive pass interference penalty that set up Spencer Shrader for a 48-yard field goal attempt.

Ball game.

Now, Downs said, imagine the possibilities when Alec Pierce, rehabbing from left ankle and heel surgery, and Allen are lined up together with a healthy Jones throwing the ball.

“(We’ll) be a good complement to each other,” Downs said of Allen’s potential effect on Indianapolis’s other pass-catchers. “I feel like he’s a guy who’s done it over and over again. He has over 1,000 catches, and he’s shown that he can do it for 10-plus years.”

The Colts, currently riding a 5-year playoff drought, are asking for at least one more.

Allen is entering his 14th NFL campaign, and to his credit, he’s shown few signs of slowing down. The 34-year-old has notched 9 straight seasons of at least 65 catches, 700 receiving yards, and 4 TD's.

Colts tight end Mo Alie-Cox is confident that Allen can still produce, and he believes that Allen will not restrict but (rather) expand a Colts offense that was operating at a historically dominant level at one point last year.

“He fits into our offense ideally,” Alie-Cox said “…... A bunch of teach-tape clips we watch are Kennan Allen running different routes and different things like that, so adding him to the room is like, ‘All right, we don’t have to watch it in a Chargers uniform anymore, we can watch it in a Colts uniform.’”


Gardner Makes Plays


When Sauce Gardner and Drake London lined up on Thursday, it was the first time that the Colts cornerback and Falcons receiver stood across from each other since last year’s Week 10 showdown in Berlin. That was Gardner’s first game with the Colts after being acquired from the New York Jets, and while Indianapolis pulled out the OT victory, Gardner was still annoyed by some of the social media chatter afterward.

“Drake London’s 2-point conversion (on me), I think that that was trending on TikTok while the game was going on,” Gardner said recently on “The Fan Morning Show.”

“I’ve never seen a 2-point conversion trend that much, even when the team still loses !!!”

Thursday didn’t offer Gardner the same level of redemption since it was only a practice, but this time around, he wasn’t on the wrong end of a viral clip. The 2-time first-team All-Pro got the better of London in their one-on-one match-ups, giving up only one catch in four reps. Gardner’s stinginess carried over to team drills, where the Colts defense stopped the Falcons in their final 2-minute drill, and London was limited to just 2 short catches.

Atlanta QB Tua Tagovailoa finished the day with 3 straight incompletions and a would-be “sack” by Colts defensive end Laiatu Latu.

Additionally, the Colts’ 2nd-string offense, led by 4rth-year QB Anthony Richardson, carved up the Falcons’ back-ups to set up another game-winning 52-yard field goal by Shrader. Indianapolis’s 2nd-string defense followed suit by getting the final stop, with Colts veteran safety Jonathan Owens batting Falcons back-up Michael Penix’s pass into the air before cornerback Rob Carter Jr snagged the ball for the game-sealing INT.

Colts coach Shane Steichen said that he was pleased with how his team finished on Thursday. Asked if his team’s execution paired well with Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon’s “find a way” mantra for the 2026 season, Steichen didn’t hesitate.

“Absolutely,” said Steichen, who is 25-26 through the first 3 years of his Colts tenure. “You have to find ways to win games in this league, and that’s putting those guys in these pressure situations and practicing them because when they come up, we have to be ready for them.”


"Buck Nasty" is Back


Months ago, DeForest Buckner contemplated retiring after undergoing neck surgery. On Thursday, Buckner looked like “Buck Nasty” again, as his fellow defensive tackle Grover Stewart likes to call him. Buckner blew up a few different plays throughout the joint-practice, and made life difficult for Tagovailoa on the Falcons’ last drive.

Stewart, who is entering his 7th season as Buckner’s teammate, said that it’s a joy to see Buckner returning to his All-Pro form. That version of Buckner is vital to the Colts’ defense reaching its full potential, especially since the team lacks another proven starter opposite of Latu on the edge.

“It really hurt my heart knowing that DeForest was dealing with that (neck injury), and he was going to be missing and stuff,” Stewart said. “Me and Buck are like 2 peas in a pod, so knowing that he was going through that (was hard), but the way that he came back, still good, still DeForest Buckner ...… it’s a great thing to have him back out there, man.”

o

[omahacolt]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

Not really. I wouldn't call it a strength, but I think Tuimoloau can give at least similar value to Paye and Key should be better than Ebukam as a DPR. It really all hinges on Latu's development. If he can take the next step and become an elite pass rusher, the unit will be above average. If not, it's probably average-below average.

JTT shouldn't even be on the team. dude is garbage

DE is a major weakness