Posts tagged Jacob Tamme
Why It’s Easy to be an Indianapolis Colts Fan: Perpetual Underdogs
Jun 15th
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Professional sports is a religion for a lot of people, and while they have a variety of reasons for following their favorite players or teams — raised to be a fan, proximity, winning, etc. — being a fan is not always easy.
Consider how frustrating it must be for fans who have to deal with ongoing public relations nightmares from players who get into considerable trouble — or front offices who regularly sign players with troubled histories. Being a fan can also be difficult when a team has built a reputation for failure or mediocrity — Colts fans who have been around for awhile should be very familiar. No time can be more difficult for a fan base than when an elite player retires — a situation the Colts will face when Peyton Manning decides to hang it up.
But there are things about the Indianapolis Colts that will not go away, even when the wins do. It is what makes it relatively easy to remain a Colts fan, and is part of what will hold the fan base together when (arguably) the greatest quarterback to ever play football moves on. More >
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Ashley Manning Gives Birth to Twins (Confirmed)
Apr 12th
Peyton and Ashley Manning in the Colts Locker room / Indianapolis Star
While this story has been floating around over a week now — initially reported by a Tennessee Volunteers blog — recent requests by the Manning family for the Indianapolis Star not to report on speculation created uncertainty surrounding reports of twins born to 4-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning and his wife, Ashley Manning. Without hard evidence or reputable sources to confirm this story, Coltzilla chose to respect the Manning family’s request for privacy and give them whatever time they desired to get comfortable in their new role as parents, or deal with any unknown issues or complications that may have been involved. That changed today, when the local Indianapolis Channel 6 News station obtained copies of a pair of birth certificates filed to the Marion County Health Department in which Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning and his wife Louisa “Ashley” Manning are named as parents. More >
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Flying Under the Radar: Brody Eldridge
Apr 12th
Brody Eldridge at Training Camp 2010 | Robert Scheer/The Star
Eldridge was the Colts 2010 fifth round draft pick. It is doubtful any offensive player taken in the fifth round by the Colts has ever carried the kind of expectations Eldridge absorbed, though. Not only was Eldridge the second-half of an extremely potent tight end combination in college, he also was a pure blocking tight end that had experience as an offensive lineman.
That alone was not what sparked expectations for him, though. It was the understanding that some of the most dominant offensive seasons during the Peyton Manning-era came out of a strong two tight end formation with competent blocking tight ends. While no one was going to usurp Dallas Clark, Eldridge took over the starting spot formerly held by the perennially “just good enough and healthy enough to stay on the roster” Gijon Robinson.
Needless to say, expectations for Eldridge were pretty high to start off the year. With the return of Anthony Gonzalez to the field, visions of an unstoppable offense able to react and adapt to any defensive scheme imaginable ran wild. While there isn’t a major cry that he was “bad” or a “bust,” there really isn’t any affirmation for him out there either, and that’s where I step in. More >
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Assessing Positional Value for the Colts 2011 NFL Draft: Tight End UPDATED
Apr 8th
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Indianapolis has put together a solid group of tight ends whose depth is dependent upon players getting and staying healthy, a recurring theme. Coltzilla’s Laura Calaway informed readers in February that Pro Bowl tight end Dallas Clark is out of his cast and is working on getting his range of motion back. At this point, Clark does not foresee that he will have to miss any time during training camp, assuming all of the NFL’s negotiations are worked out in time.
Fourth-year player Jacob Tamme played a major role in the Colts offense after Clark went down in 2010. The potential use of both Tamme and Clark in some dual-tight end sets is a scary prospect for opposing defenses and could be a powerful weapon for Indianapolis’ offense. Second-year blocking tight end Brody Eldridge should have an opportunity to take some positive steps in his development. While he was unable to get comfortable catching the football as a rookie, he did improve the offensive line when he was on the field.
*Updated: Cobb78 sent Coltzilla an insightful email following this story. Arkansas tight end — and Mackey Award winner — D.J. Williams has been added in the fifth round. Thanks to Cobb78 for the discussion and contribution.
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Colts Off-Season: A Time for Change and Hope
Feb 9th
Will the Colts make a move for free agent running back DeAngelo Williams? (Chris Keane | Reuters)
The Indianapolis Colts are known for their ability to put together teams that are young and competitive on the field with a chance to win the Super Bowl every year. The team has accomplished this by finding jewels in the draft that other teams simply overlook. As a Colts fan I have nothing but respect and admiration for the front office of the Colts and thank them for the product they consistently put on the field for Colts fans to cheer. It’s time for the next step, and at this point in Peyton Manning’s career it’s now or never for the Indy. Unlike many of the experts out there, I do not believe that Peyton is anywhere close to the end of his career. I do believe that he is at the point where the team can’t just wait for young talent to develop around him.
Starting with the offensive line, Ryan Diem has been rode hard this year for the false starts and his mental mistakes, but I’m one who believes that a lot of his issues were because of having to play through injuries all year long with a lack of depth behind him. The same could be said for left tackle Charlie Johnson. The hope in the franchise should be that Ryan Diem will work with the front office on restructuring his $5.4 million deal that would allow the team to pay him on incentives as opposed to cutting him as cap casualty.
Regardless what happens with Diem, the best answer for the Colts is to not miss out on a chance to get an anchor left tackle early in the draft such as Anthony Castonzo, Boston College, Nate Solder, Colorado, Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin, or Derek Sherrod, Mississippi State. There is also the option of landing a couple solid free agents with both Tyson Clabo of Atlanta and Matt Light being available, Clabo being ideal because of his youth. At guard the best answer without question is to find a way to sign Logan Mankins out of New England. Adding an all pro will allow you to let Jamey Richard and Mike Pollak fight for the starting spot next to Mankins with the loser backing up both the center and guard spots.
Ideal line: LT-Tyson Clabo, LG- Logan Mankins, C- Jeff Saturday, RG- Mike Pollak, and RT- Gabe Carimi. More >
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Colts Flying Under the Radar: Introduction
Feb 7th
With the Super Bowl over, fans will turn to the off-season. To relieve Colts withdraw, writers at Coltzilla, will bring you content on issues ranging from current personnel, draft prospects, roster additions, and the progression of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
I would like to introduce “Flying Under the Radar,” which will be my attempt to utilize my experiences from watching the game film in great detail for the statistics collected in “Game Stats,” to highlight a number of players who were not as hyped as their performance warrants. Players like Jacob Tamme, Pat Angerer, and Jerraud Powers have received considerable, and well deserved praise. This series will turn the spotlight on players who have either shown great promise, or who have been marginalized or looked down upon for one reason or another.
In some cases, such as with Jerry Hughes, the player simply did not receive considerable playing time. In others, such as with Philip Wheeler, roster decisions help cover up what had been an impressive and consistent year. Even others, like Blair White, played most of the year and had a strong season, but were replacing stellar performers like Austin Collie and could not hope to step out of that shadow.
Keep an eye out for this series during the off season.
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Jets v. Colts: After Review (Wild Card Weekend)
Jan 10th
Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri celebrates after he hits a would-be game winning 50-yard field goal. (Andy Lyons | Getty Images)
After a painful sixteen game regular season — rife with injuries, frustrating slumps, and a lack of identity — the Colts 2010 effort officially ended Saturday night after a last minute drive that was capped by a Jets field goal. What makes the loss difficult to take — even though most fans realized the team’s playoff berth was an admirable accomplishment in its own right — is that the Colts should have won.
The initial fan reaction to the game has been all over the board, with fingers pointing in different directions. Some argue that the defense is responsible for the loss because they allowed the Jets to keep the ball for a vast majority of the second half, and yielded over 150 yards on the ground.
Others blame the Indianapolis special teams units for making costly mistakes and allowing long returns, specifically Antonio Cromartie’s long return on the final drive of the game that allowed the Jets to have a short field for a field goal try.
Still others insist that Coach Caldwell is primarily responsible for calling an ill-advised timeout with less than 30 seconds to go, which allowed the Jets offense to get their heads together for a back-breaking first down play that made shaky place kicker Nick Folk’s job much easier.
The reality is, all of these fans are right to a degree, but none of them — even taken together — completely explain how the Colts managed to let this game slip away. More >
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Jets v. Colts, and Things of that Nature (Wild Card Weekend)
Jan 8th
Can the Colts construct another deep playoff run? (Andy Lyons | Getty Images)
The Indianapolis Colts are going to face a familiar playoff opponent in the wild card round of the 2010 playoffs. The New York Jets have to come back to Lucas Oil Stadium and will certainly have redemption squarely in their sights.
Rex Ryan is an emotion-filled coach who will likely have his team seeing red, hungry for payback after the Colts kept the gang green from its first Super Bowl berth since Super Bowl III in 1968. Players like Darelle Revis, Mark Sanchez, and Shonn Greene will likely lead the rally call to come into Indianapolis and trounce the smaller faster team that bested them just under one year ago.
One thing that could play in the Colts favor is that quarterback Peyton Manning and his primary receiver Reggie Wayne got a good look at the Jets in the playoffs last year. There is little doubt that there will be adjustments on both sides of the ball by both teams but with a crowd that has proved capable of making it very difficult for teams to play during the Colts late-season playoff push, some might think the Colts have an advantage. More >
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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 >
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