Posts tagged Bill Polian
A Preview of Colts Safety Bob Sanders’ Restructured Contract
Jan 21st
Bob Sanders participating in morning drills at the Colts 2010 Training Camp at Anderson University. (Brent Smith | Reuters)
Over the past week, multiple reports indicate that Bob Sanders will have to re-negotiate his contract if he intends to stay in Indianapolis. The fact that Colts team president Bill Polian and Sanders’ super agent, Tom Condon, are discussing it publicly indicates that the team and Sanders are serious about getting something worked out. Condon addressed the issue:
“The guy [Sanders] doesn’t play for three consecutive years. They’re probably not real excited about that, and they paid the other safety [Bethea], what $6.5 million, this year. Is there another team in the league that pays both its safeties more than $5 million? The answer is no. So he (Irsay) doesn’t have to tell me anything.”
While being candid is refreshing, one would expect an NFL agent for a player as talented as Sanders to spin the situation more favorably if Bob was content with testing the open market. Nothing screams “I don’t want to go anywhere,” more than one of the league’s top agents highlighting the negatives of his client’s injury history heading into contract discussions.
Coltzilla will take a look at Sanders’ current deal and prognosticate on what his new deal could look like. More >
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
The Coltzilla Draft Board
Jan 20th
Darron Cumming | AP Photo
The Coltzilla Draft Board will will examine NFL prospects at each position, focusing on the team’s greatest needs and best fits. It will list 10 players at each position, which will be updated regularly, in order of assumed need.
Indianapolis has a solid core, so the draft will be more about upgrading and adding depth. The Colts greatest focus this off-season should be the offensive line. A primary attribute for potential Colts linemen is the ability to play at more than one position.
Other key need areas are safety and one-tech defensive tackles (run stoppers).
At each other position, the Colts are probably looking for nothing more than depth, unless key players like Joseph Addai are not signed. With Addai’s future still in question, the secondary need areas will be currently rated in order as: running back, cornerback, linebacker, tight end, wide receiver, and quarterback. Coltzilla will cover the quarterbacks just to analyze what players are coming out, even though it is unlikely that Indianapolis will use a pick for depth behind Peyton Manning.
Check in regularly to examine the draft board. Please include your discussion, suggestions, and indicate what players you think might be a good fit for the 2011 Colts. Coltzilla will use this input to create as many draft profiles as possible leading up to the draft.
(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5) Loading ...
How the Colts can Fix the Offensive Line
Jan 11th
Right guard Mike Pollak and right tackle Jeff Linkenbach prepare to block pre-snap. (Jonathan Daniel | Getty Images)
No unit on the football field lives and dies by the concept that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link more than the offensive line. When one player screws up an assignment along the line it can cause a total breakdown in protection.
Since Tarik Glenn retired following the 2006 Super Bowl Championship season, the Colts have played at least one offensive lineman out of position. Charlie Johnson, the Colts starting left tackle in 2009 and 2010, is not a true NFL-caliber left tackle and was not acquired to play that position. He had success at right tackle in the Super Bowl when Ryan Diem went down with an injury and has looked good at the guard positions, but left tackle is asking Johnson to play over his head. More >
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...
Navigating the Colts 2011 Off-Season
Jan 7th
Quarterback Peyton Manning watches as running back Joseph Addai carries the football in Denver. (Doug Pensinger | Getty Images)
Although the Colts are heading into the playoffs and will not have to worry about new contracts, free agency, and draft planning until after their playoff run ends, once it does things will start happening fast. With all of the players who have contracts ending this season, it will be important to make good choices in order to keep a very talented football team intact.
One thing about any off-season is the chance that difficult decisions will have to be made about players for whom fans have a great deal of loyalty. That is the unfortunate nature of the business of football and those kinds of decisions and observations will be included in what this writer believes is the best direction for the Colts leading up to the 2011 season.
The most important thing to do to start this process is to identify which players require new contracts in order to play football in 2011, and which players currently have contracts that are not reflective of their value to the team.
The players who will need new contracts in order to return to the Colts in 2011 are listed below, by position. More >
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...
Colts Power Rankings – Week 17
Jan 7th
Each week, we’ll be scouring the net for team rankings from football experts, covering the previous week, and discussing them here. Let’s see what they have to say this week.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...
A Fan Salute to the 2010 Indianapolis Colts
Jan 5th
A true Colts fan salute. (Andy Lyons | Getty Images)
With a win against the Titans, the Colts managed to overcome unprecedented team injuries and their worst five game series since 2002 for a NFL record (tie) ninth consecutive playoff berth, and their seventh AFC South Championship in the last eight years. Peyton Manning was able to get through his toughest stretch of games since his rookie year and somehow Indy has managed to enter January with the three seed in the AFC.
It is extremely important for Colts fans to step back and think about the gravity of this accomplishment. Frankly, this team had no business overcoming all of the adversity it has faced in a sixteen game season. More >
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...
Colts Power Rankings – Week 16
Dec 31st
Each week, we’ll be scouring the net for team rankings from football experts, covering the previous week, and discussing them here. Let’s see what they have to say this week.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...
Colts Power Rankings – Week 14
Dec 16th
Each week, we’ll be scouring the net for team rankings from football experts, covering the previous week, and discussing them here. Let’s see what they have to say this week.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...
Colts’ GM Bill Polian Talks More Offensive Line Philosophy
Dec 16th
Last week, Bill Polian gave several Colts fans hope that he would consider dipping into free agency to bolster the offensive line in an attempt to improve the running game. This week, while not directly retracting that statement, he reminds the fan base of who the Colts really are… a pass-first team.
We are a team basically built to pass protect. We’re a team that’s going to be three wide receivers most of the time, one back virtually all of the time….
We’re not going to be the Dallas Cowboys, for example, where you have five 350-pound guys up there who are going to double-team and pull and blast away with the power running game.
This suggests that, while Polian may focus on the O-Line during the draft or even in free agency, he will still favor pass-blockers. More >
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...
Desirable Colts Defensive Changes
Dec 12th
Broncos receiver Brandon Lloyd catches an uncontested pass in front of loose Kelvin Hayden coverage. (Justin Edmonds | Getty Images)
Since Peyton Manning and Bill Polian converged in Indianapolis in 1998, the Colts draft and player acquisition blueprint changed to an imbalanced focus on providing the franchise quarterback with all of the pieces he would need to carry the team into the new pass-first NFL. During this time, the Colts have maintained one of the league’s most powerful offenses and given defenses and defensive coordinators fits.
The defense changed to a Dungy, Tampa-2 system which focuses on speed, takes advantage of under-sized talent, and keeps defensive cost down by getting the most out of players who have limited options on the open market due to so few teams running a system that would take advantage of players with the skill set Indianapolis targets. The primary focus of this system is to limit big plays by utilizing the speed and swarming defensive style to keep running backs from breaking long runs and playing a loose zone-based coverage designed to keep plays in front of the defense — allowing the defensive backs to hit receivers shortly after they make a reception. More >
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...