8/6 Star

[JAFF]

Sunday Doyle debbie downer

WESTFIELD – “It’s good to be a Colts fan,” the woman's sign says, and at this moment, sure, why not? It’s Sunday afternoon at Grand Park, sun behind clouds, temperatures near 75 degrees. Weather doesn’t get much better around here in August, and out there on the field, after another day of training camp, players don’t get much more accommodating.

Linebacker Shaq Leonard is hurling miniature footballs into the crowd, pointing out kids and flinging it their way and staring until the kid gets the ball. Quarterback Anthony Richardson is on one knee near midfield, surrounded by tiny Colts fans wearing tiny versions of his No. 5 jersey, posing for pictures as their parents swoon.

It is good to be a Colts fan out here at Grand Park, where tickets are going fast and the pace of practice is going faster and new coach Shane Steichen is a rock star as he walks off the field toward the press conference, serenated by adults – “Shane! Shane!” – until he turns and points at them with a smile. If he could sing, he’d be a Beatle.


None of this has anything to do with actual football, which is for the best. The actual football isn’t looking very good, at least not on paper. When an offense this bad goes against a defense this limited, what does it mean when tight end Kylen Granson scores on a 25-yard toss from Richardson, or when linebacker E.J. Speed picks off a Gardner Minshew pass near the end zone?

Colts camp observations:Anthony Richardson tosses 3 TDs with first-team offense


They have a saying in football, when your first-team offense goes against your first-team defense: “Good on good,” they call that.

We’re going to need a new saying for the 2023 Indianapolis Colts.

Not much good out here, other than this: Until the games start, yes, it’s good to be a Colts fan.


Are Colts tanking in 2023?

The question is sinfully simple, and vice versa:

Do the Colts want to win this season?

Seriously. Do they?

On paper, which is the safest place to grade them for now, they’re not good and they’re not trying very hard to get better. They are playing contractual hardball with the best player on the team, running back Jonathan Taylor, who is being allowed to hold out, or whatever the Colts are calling it, by starting the preseason on the Physically Unable to Perform list. What’s his injury? The Colts won’t say, probably because the only thing hurting right now are Taylor’s feelings.


The Colts’ treatment of Taylor isn’t out of place in a running back market that is falling apart, but it does make you wonder about the Colts’ intentions in 2023. They’ve never done this with a young player this good, and while it’s true, they’ve never had a young running back this good in a market this bad, this is also true:

The Colts don’t seem to care whether Taylor plays or not.

Given their rookie at quarterback, shallow receiving corps and suspect offensive line, I don’t know. Seems Taylor might help this season.

Taylor’s absence is just the tip of the iceberg of course. In nine years here, dating to 2014, I’ve not seen a Colts roster this devoid of elite talent and quality depth.

Look at the offensive line. It wasn’t good last season and the Colts are basically running it back with one change: Will Fries for Danny Pinter at right guard. The depth behind those starters is unspeakable, as in, I refuse to speak any of their names. Don’t want anyone else on the PUP list with hurt feelings.

Look at the cornerbacks. The Colts traded their best outside corner in 2022, Stephon Gilmore, for a fifth-round pick. They let their second-best cover corner, Brandon Facyson, leave in free agency. Their third-best outside corner, Isaiah Rodgers Sr., was suspended for the year for gambling, then released. The team drafted three cornerbacks in April, and ready or not, they’re all going to play. A couple could start, because NFL rules require 11 defensive players on the field.


Look at the receivers. The Colts had the least productive core of wideouts in the league last year, and while their quarterbacks weren’t good, don’t kid yourself: The receivers weren’t good either. The Colts addressed this by going bargain-hunting for receivers in free agency and drafting one, Josh Downs of UNC, in the third round.

Look at the backups at linebacker, and defensive end, at defensive tackle.

Unspeakable. No names, though. Hurt feelings, PUP list, etc.

QB Anthony Richardson is just so-o-o good

On the bright side, Anthony Richardson.

He’s the best-looking player on the offensive side of the ball, near as I can tell, which admittedly isn’t much. Training camp is misleading. The pressure on the quarterback is non-existent, physically and otherwise. It’s glorified 7-on-7 work, even when it’s 11-on-11, and I’m not sure if that’s because the intensity level is that low or because the Colts’ defensive front is that bad.

But the way he moves, the way he thinks, the way the throws, Richardson could be super. He’d better be, or the Colts again will be picking near the top of the NFL Draft in 2024.

Say, you don’t think…

Nah!

If the Colts were truly tanking, they’d have traded star defensive tackle DeForest Buckner before the 2023 NFL Draft. He has two years left on his contract and would’ve fetched a first-round draft pick. The Colts kept him, which suggests they’re serious about selling tickets, if nothing else. Trading Buckner would’ve been a declaration of war on the Colts fan base. The Colts are serious about looking serious, I guess. Though it’s hard to say.

Taylor watches every practice with a scowl on his face, but at least he’s starting to talk to teammates. Or they’re talking to him. Is that good? I think I liked it better when everyone was ignoring him on the sideline, because something fundamental has changed with Taylor. He was talking quite a bit Sunday with the player brought in as his presumed replacement, running back Kenyan Drake, who was still available last week because the running back market is deflated, and the assumed topic of their conversation scares me.

But when Taylor started chatting up injured cornerback Kenny Moore II, who staged a brief contract “hold in” during organized team activities last offseason and emerged unsuccessful, I got downright terrified. What are they talking about?

The Colts need to make Taylor happy, or they need to make him go away – unless they want him to infect the team, so the Colts again will be picking near the top of the NFL Draft in 2024.

Say, you don’t think…

Nah!

Why is CB Chris Lammons here?

The Colts are doing weird things, though. Making an example of Taylor, for one. Allowing their best outside cornerbacks (Gilmore, Facyson) and pass-rusher from last season, Yannick Ngakoue, to leave for next to nothing. Replacing them with rookie projects and veteran nobodies.

Neglecting the offensive line this offseason.

And then this:

After losing Rodgers to the NFL’s gambling policy, then releasing him because this franchise doesn’t fool around with bad characters, the Colts replaced him with … a worse character: a guy charged last year with felony battery resulting in bodily harm. His name, I’ll speak: Chris Lammons. Hurt your feelings, Chris? No? Keep reading.

This guy, this Chris Lammons, he was arrested in February 2022 in Las Vegas after helping former Saints teammate Alvin Kamara win a fight. And by “helped win a fight” I mean police accused Lammons and two other courageous souls of stomping on the poor guy after Kamara had already decked him.

Kamara and Lammons pleaded guilty to lesser charges in July, avoiding prison but forcing them to pay the victim $210,000 in medical costs. And this is the player the Colts signed to replaced Isaiah Rodgers?

Was his tag-team partner Kamara not available to replace Taylor?

Good news: Lammons won’t play in the first three games because the NFL suspended him last week. Bad news: He might play in the last 14, and this guy – in addition to whatever happened in Vegas – is lousy: 42 career games, one interception, three passes broken up.

The PUP list is available if this hurts your feelings, Lammons.

So it a good time to be a Colts fan, as it said on the woman's sign in the front row? It is for now at Grand Park, where the only players scoring touchdowns are Colts and the only players making interceptions are Colts, and until another team shows up, we can all pretend things will be OK. And maybe they will, a year from now, when the Colts console themselves after a 3-14 season in 2023 by selecting Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. with the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Say, you don’t think…

Yeah, actually. I really do think.

[JAFF]

8/6 practice report

WESTFIELD — Anthony Richardson stepped up to the line, surveyed the defense and saw Alec Pierce to his right, lined up in a one-on-one situation against cornerback Darrell Baker Jr.

Richardson likes Pierce in that situation. The speed, the size, the leaping ability that didn’t get used enough last season.

The rookie took the snap, faked a handoff and fired down the sideline to Pierce, who hauled in the throw ahead of the secondary and raced into the end zone for a touchdown and a clear piece of evidence that the Colts’ first-round pick is starting to make some strides in training camp.

“It was 1-on-1 back side, and we had another combination over there (on the other side),” Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said. “He snapped back and threw that 1-on-1.”


Richardson completed 6 of 8 passes and threw three touchdown passes in Sunday’s practice, turning in his second impressive performance in less than 24 hours, this time taking the first-team snaps after playing with the second team Saturday night.

But the Pierce play might have been his most impressive, given the situation.

First of all, the Colts were in what Steichen terms a “call-it period,” a period of practice where the coordinators on both sides are calling plays into the headset in real time, the same way the team will in a game. Most practice periods are scripted; players know which plays the team is installing ahead of time.


A call-it period takes away the heads-up.

“It lets the guys think,” Steichen said. “Instead of looking at a script, it’s like, ‘Hey, we’re going to come out and call plays.’ A lot of our system’s installed, and we’re adding pieces bit by bit, but it’s good to let those go out there and react and make it like it’s game day.”


Richardson was impressive in the Colts’ call-it period Sunday, completing 3 of 4 passes — the only incompletion coming on a drop by running back Evan Hull —and putting together two decisive runs, slicing through the defense in some of his most electric work with his feet so far.

Then he followed it up with a decisive win for the offense in Steichen’s final scenario, a two-minute drill where the offense takes over at the defense’s 25-yard line with 46 seconds left on the clock, one timeout and in desperate need of a touchdown and 2-point conversion.


Richardson didn’t need all 46 seconds, hitting Kylen Granson in the corner of the end zone on the second play of the drive, then racing out to his right and leaping into the end zone for the 2-point conversion.

The rookie also tossed a touchdown pass to Michael Pittman Jr. early, and he could have had another score if Dallis Flowers hadn’t pulled down his receiver on his first attempt, drawing a penalty flag from the referees for pass interference.

After an up-and-down opening to camp, Richardson has come on strong the past two days, completing 15 of 19 passes for five touchdowns over the past two practices. The rookie quarterback also made big plays with his feet Sunday, opening the practice with a big gain for a potential touchdown on a draw and carving out yards throughout the practice.

“You get repetitions, you do things more and more, and you’re going to get more comfortable,” Steichen said. “I think he’s gaining confidence in the system, gaining confidence with his teammates. When you have that, and you have the talent that he has, it’s usually a good thing.”

The Indianapolis Colts QB Anthony Richardson (5) runs drills at the Indianapolis Colts Training Camp, held at Grand Park on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Westfield Ind.
Running roughshod

For most of training camp, the news on the running game has centered around Jonathan Taylor’s desire for a contract extension and the broken arm suffered by backup Zack Moss, rather than the performance.

The Colts changed the focus, at least for a little bit, on Sunday.

Third-year back Deon Jackson ripped off two big runs, Richardson was a decisive, knifing presence as a runner out of the backfield and wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie scored a touchdown on an end-around early in the practice, racing 15-20 yards for a score.

Fellow backup running back Jake Funk also had a nice run, ripping off a solid run on the first play of Richardson’s two-minute drill in the red zone to set up the touchdown throw to Granson.

Defensive difference

A first-team defense depleted by injuries struggled against Richardson and the first-team offense Sunday.

But the Colts defense made a few more plays against Gardner Minshew and the rest of the second team. Minshew completed 13 of 17 throws and tossed a touchdown on a shovel to La’Michael Pettway, but most of those completions were short throws, and on his first dropback of the day, linebacker Grant Stuard finished off a sustained rush to complete the “sack,” forcing coaches to whistle the play dead.

Little-known linebacker Segun Olubi continued his strong camp, making four tackles and laying a couple of hard hits on Hull. Adetomiwa Adebawore and Khalid Kareem combined for another “sack” of Minshew later in the practice during the call-it period, and then linebacker E.J. Speed picked off Minshew to end the red-zone drill in the two-minute.

Injury report

Free safety Rodney Thomas II was held out of most of Sunday’s practice with what appeared to be an undisclosed injury. Steichen did not have an update on Thomas II after the practice.

Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (foot), cornerback Kenny Moore II (ankle), safety Julian Blackmon (hamstring), defensive end Samson Ebukam (hamstring), tight end Mo Alie-Cox (ankle), Jelani Woods (hamstring), tight end Will Mallory (hamstring), linebacker Liam Anderson (right arm/shoulder), defensive end Genard Avery and linebacker Cameron McGrone did not practice.

Taylor and defensive end Tyquan Lewis (knee) remain on the active/physically unable to perform list.

Quick hitters

The Colts defense made a couple of nice plays in 7-on-7. Linebacker Shaquille Leonard nearly picked off one Richardson pass with one hand, and then rookie cornerback JuJu Brents had a near-pick of his own a couple of plays later. … Third-year wide receiver Michael Strachan made one impressive catch over rookie cornerback Darius Rush, but he largely struggled outside of that play, allowing rookie cornerback Jaylon Jones to break up two passes and Brents to break up another later in the practice. … Undrafted safety Michael Tutsie had a key pass breakup for the second consecutive day. … One of Rigoberto Sanchez’s punts was blocked.

[Chromeburn]

Why does Indy media suck so bad at understanding football. Gilmore is a journeyman who wants to win a title. He was a rental. Facyson was not the 2nd best corner, Rogers was. Facyson was bad. This year would have been Rogers, Moore and a rookie starting. Now it’s probably Flowers Moore and a rookie. Yeah they are going young at the position group.

Yannick had inflated numbers, he didn’t move the needle at crunch time. He didn’t apply pressure at key moments. Mostly opportunity sacks. 2nd down in n the middle of the 1st quarter type stuff. The guys from San Fran has much better analytics. Maybe he bombs, but he was a much more effective rusher at part time last year than Yannick was full time. No one has heard of him bc he is from a west coast NFC team.

The line is better with the removal of Pryor. In fact, it started to improve as the year went on after he was removed. That is how bad he was. He should have never been put at LT. Also Kelly has been a mess mentally, Quinton was more hurt than we knew, and they had a rookie on the left side. The rookie has been improving, Quinton is healthy, and hopefully Kelly is mentally healthy. Smith was awful at the beginning of the year, but he recovered and was a top five RT by the end of the year. So that leaves competition at RG. Best man wins.

The WRs were bad bc the QB was bad. Pierce was a rookie. Not much after those two. But downs was a good draft pick and should be a good player.

JT when healthy is one of the top backs in the league. TE has a lot of developing young guys.

So he says worst ever roster. Let’s look at the 2015 colts randomly.

https://www.pro-football-reference.c...015_roster.htm

On defense they have Vontae Davis and old Mathis. That’s it, nothing else. There are two all pros and multiple pro bowlers on this defense.

On offense they have old Frank Gore. JT is just slightly better I would say. At WR they have Hilton. Moncrief, Andre Johnson, and Philip Dorsett. That group is awful except for TY. I would take the upside of this group.

There is one big difference that matters though. That teams had Luck and this one has a rookie QB. Otherwise, no, it was not better than this team in talent. Indy media is the worst.

[Mr. Session]

The dude is an edge lord and I can't say I feel like I'm missing anything by not hearing about his stuff more often, as I imagine I would if I still lived up there. What's a little odd to me, personally, is his overly antagonistic attitude. Perhaps that's just my perception.

I get not wanting to be a mouthpiece for the organization and instead opting for objective and unbiased reporting, but the personal digs at players is kind of cringy. Especially with how he frames Richardson; That just seems like he's setting the kid up. I don't see why any of this is necessary unless the customer base actually eats it up, which may be the case. It's hard for me to believe they couldn't find someone better, but I haven't read a newspaper for years, so IDK.

I'll concede that I have heard similar sentiments regarding the team's competency level from other corners of the fanbase, but I've ignored those given this is a whole new regime.

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by JAFF

Sunday Doyle debbie downer

He said he thinks, lol. No, he whines. All in his feelings every article.

[Discflinger]

I love the one from NJ that said Paris was so glad to be away from Jim. He only talked about getting the opportunity.

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by Mr. Session

The dude is an edge lord and I can't say I feel like I'm missing anything by not hearing about his stuff more often, as I imagine I would if I still lived up there. What's a little odd to me, personally, is his overly antagonistic attitude. Perhaps that's just my perception.

I get not wanting to be a mouthpiece for the organization and instead opting for objective and unbiased reporting, but the personal digs at players is kind of cringy. Especially with how he frames Richardson; That just seems like he's setting the kid up. I don't see why any of this is necessary unless the customer base actually eats it up, which may be the case. It's hard for me to believe they couldn't find someone better, but I haven't read a newspaper for years, so IDK.

I'll concede that I have heard similar sentiments regarding the team's competency level from other corners of the fanbase, but I've ignored those given this is a whole new regime.

I don’t hate him, but just the ignorance of the team moves and makeup and general lack of football knowledge is glaring. Doyle is annoying, but the worst are the radio guys. Dakich is a full on hater for Ballard and a Grigson stan. Grigson is such a horrible evaluator of talent.

I watched some of his podcasts and it’s straight up bullshit. He contradicts himself all the time “Colts don’t have any wide receivers and Ballard ignored the position” then five minutes later “I think Pierce is going to be a good receiver.” Well which is it? Then on Pittman “I was talking to Grigson after the ‘20 draft and he said he (MPj) won’t be a good receiver, too slow.” Pittman has been better than every receiver taken below him and a few taken above him.

But the other radio guys have some axe to grind. KBB is smart but manipulative. AR has an ok practice and other Colt reporters tweet his comp %, throws an INT, has a nice red zone TD to a TE. They say he had a pretty good day in camp. KBB tweets “Anthony Richardson has awful interception at practice today”. Then nothing else, doesn’t talk about the good or positives. And of course all the haters fill up the thread with anti Richardson and Ballard comments. When you hate the GM so bad you want the new franchise QB to fail.

It’s bad when I have to go to the podcasters and other minor sites for Colts news and analysis. A lot of those guys are also much more knowledgeable when it comes to football.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Chromeburn

Why does Indy media suck so bad at understanding football. Gilmore is a journeyman who wants to win a title. He was a rental. Facyson was not the 2nd best corner, Rogers was. Facyson was bad. This year would have been Rogers, Moore and a rookie starting. Now it’s probably Flowers Moore and a rookie. Yeah they are going young at the position group.

Yannick had inflated numbers, he didn’t move the needle at crunch time. He didn’t apply pressure at key moments. Mostly opportunity sacks. 2nd down in n the middle of the 1st quarter type stuff. The guys from San Fran has much better analytics. Maybe he bombs, but he was a much more effective rusher at part time last year than Yannick was full time. No one has heard of him bc he is from a west coast NFC team.

The line is better with the removal of Pryor. In fact, it started to improve as the year went on after he was removed. That is how bad he was. He should have never been put at LT. Also Kelly has been a mess mentally, Quinton was more hurt than we knew, and they had a rookie on the left side. The rookie has been improving, Quinton is healthy, and hopefully Kelly is mentally healthy. Smith was awful at the beginning of the year, but he recovered and was a top five RT by the end of the year. So that leaves competition at RG. Best man wins.

The WRs were bad bc the QB was bad. Pierce was a rookie. Not much after those two. But downs was a good draft pick and should be a good player.

JT when healthy is one of the top backs in the league. TE has a lot of developing young guys.

So he says worst ever roster. Let’s look at the 2015 colts randomly.

https://www.pro-football-reference.c...015_roster.htm

On defense they have Vontae Davis and old Mathis. That’s it, nothing else. There are two all pros and multiple pro bowlers on this defense.

On offense they have old Frank Gore. JT is just slightly better I would say. At WR they have Hilton. Moncrief, Andre Johnson, and Philip Dorsett. That group is awful except for TY. I would take the upside of this group.

There is one big difference that matters though. That teams had Luck and this one has a rookie QB. Otherwise, no, it was better. Indy media is the worst.

On top of all of this Doyel somehow doesn't recognize that maybe we're now building for the long haul instead of tanking. Also, he's flipped his opinion on JT as last week he was 100% behind the Colts not paying him, but now he's super whiney about JT not being on the field.

I do agree with his concern on the OL. Ballard's putting too much trust on the current starters improving/rebuonding and staying healthy.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Mr. Session

T

I get not wanting to be a mouthpiece for the organization and instead opting for objective and unbiased reporting, but the personal digs at players is kind of cringy. Especially with how he frames Richardson; That just seems like he's setting the kid up. I don't see why any of this is necessary unless the customer base actually eats it up, which may be the case. It's hard for me to believe they couldn't find someone better, but I haven't read a newspaper for years, so IDK.

Agree with this. He definitely decides he doesn't like some people and bitches about them nonstop and well after the fact. He's still bitching about Wentz not getting his COVID vaccine. We get it Doyel. Wentz is a douche, but it's been 2 years. Let it go.

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

On top of all of this Doyel somehow doesn't recognize that maybe we're now building for the long haul instead of tanking. Also, he's flipped his opinion on JT as last week he was 100% behind the Colts not paying him, but now he's super whiney about JT not being on the field.

I do agree with his concern on the OL. Ballard's putting too much trust on the current starters improving/rebuonding and staying healthy.

Yeah so many of them are going back on the "pay a RB notion". All last year they were complaining about the contracts to non-premium positions and they would say "Well you know who is next? Jonathon Taylor, they are going to pay him and you shouldn't do it."

Now they aren't paying him and everyone is making a stink about that. Not to mention the fact he is STILL injured. Who would sign a RB with a mysterious lingering injury like that?

As for the oline thing, I'm ok with it because the line was getting better at the end of the year with Raimann improving and Pryor out of the lineup. Q was really hurt, with him healthy it should be better and with Raimann making a second-year jump. Kelly is still a risk to me, but that seems more mental which he has talked about. I think they are betting on the players returning to form. But we will see, he's made mistakes before.

To me CB is the group that is gonna have a rough season. Too much youth. They are going to get beat a lot. But they should come out better for it. Lots of youth but lots of talent too.