Posts tagged muir
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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Forecasting the Colts 2011 Defensive Tackles
Feb 1st
Antonio "Mookie" Johnson tackles Titans running back Chris Johnson. (Andy Lyons | Getty Images)
The Indianapolis Colts have historically had difficulty putting together a group of defensive tackles that are capable of fulfilling their responsibilities in the Tampa-2 defensive scheme. In this scheme, the nose tackle — 1-technique tackle — is asked to be a space-filling, line holding run stuffer. The under tackle — 3-technique tackle — is asked to penetrate the offensive line to disrupt running lanes on the way to the quarterback. For many years the biggest weakness amongst Indy’s interior defensive linemen has been a lack of size. This resulted in opponents running the ball relentlessly off of their centers and guards, right through the middle of the Colts defensive line.
A lot has changed. Now Antonio Johnson, Daniel Muir, and Fili Moala all surpass the 300-pound mark. Only Johnson is well-suited to play nose tackle, while Muir and Moala are reasonably sized 3-technique tackles in a 4-3 defensive front — Muir had great success in 2009 and Moala showed marked improvement in 2010. Ricardo Mathews and Eric Foster are used situationally on passing downs and are better suited for the under tackle role. Foster moves outside to defensive end in run packages — Mathews may do the same in 2011. More >
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Colts Coyer Trying to Make the Meal With the Wrong Ingredients
Jan 31st
The Colts starting defensive line waiting for the Denver offense to get set. (Doug Pensinger | Getty Images)
When Bill Parcells became head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, one of his first moves was to do nothing. What he didn’t do was rush in and change the defense from a base 4-3 to the “Parcells” 3-4 defense that helped him win two Super Bowls with the Giants. When Pat Kirwan asked him why, Parcells explained that he didn’t have the right ingredients for the 3-4. He knew it was going to take about two to three seasons before he could acquire the right personnel to run the 3-4, and be successful. So, he patiently ran the 4-3 until 2005 when he acquired the talent necessary for the switch.
Larry Coyer would be wise to sit down with Parcells, because what he is trying to do defensively in Indy isn’t working. The issues on defense go way beyond injuries — at the root of the problem is the fact that the players and the scheme don’t match up. More >
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Did Injuries Affect the 2010 Colts?
Jan 19th
Colts fans are stuck in limbo. The Super Bowl is still two weeks away, so talking about the off-season seems premature. Before fans get to that point, it is worthwhile to take a look back at 2010 to gauge where the Colts franchise will be when the draft and summer activities roll around.
One of the biggest impacts on Indianapolis in 2010 was the unprecedented number of injuries the team had to play through. The Colts placed 18 players on Injured Reserve, and two others on the injured/waived list — including Taj Smith, who rejoined the Colts. This number does not include injured players who missed multiple games throughout the year, but still managed to hold onto a roster spot.
Below are three ways to examine Indy’s injuries in 2010.
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Indianapolis Colts 2011 First String Currently Features Painter, Swenson
Jan 11th
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Curtis Painter talks with a coach during the second quarter of an NFL preseason football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Indianapolis, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Tom Strickland)
UPDATE: I misread the Rotoworld entry on Robert Mathis, and inadvertently marked him as a free agent beginning this year. Thankfully, he is under contract for one more year. Post updated to reflect this. Apologies for any confusion!
For all intents and purposes, the 2011 season has begun for the Indianapolis Colts. And if the team were preparing for their first game of the 2011 season, Curtis Painter would be lining up under center and Brett Swenson would be practicing tee shots.
OK, OK, it’s sensationalist and nobody expects that to actually happen. Owner Jim Irsay has gone on record as saying that the Colts will make Peyton Manning the highest-paid player in the NFL. And after Adam Vinatieri’s season, in which he went 29 of 31 (including the playoffs), and was perfect on 52 XPs, it is hard to imagine the Colts wouldn’t do what is necessary to re-sign him. Vinatieri has also expressed an interest in completing his career in Indy. But what does the roster currently look like to start 2011?
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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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Surprise! Friday Injury Report: Jets v. Colts
Jan 7th
Well color me surprised that there would be more than a nominal Friday practice for a Saturday game, but it IS the playoff season after all. Below is today’s update.
Things are looking up for a few players, including Al Afalava, Mike Newton, Dominic Rhodes and Reggie Wayne, all who saw increased practice time from yesterday. However, it appears that Kelvin Hayden and Clint Session will be watching from the sidelines tomorrow.
| Player | Injury | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Status |
| A.Afalava | Ankle | FULL | DNP | FULL | QUESTIONABLE |
| R.Diem | Back | DNP | DNP | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| K.Hayden | Neck | DNP | DNP | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| A.Johnson | Chest | LIMITED | LIMITED | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| D.Muir | Chest | FULL | FULL | FULL | QUESTIONABLE |
| M.Newton | Hamstring | DNP | DNP | LIMITED | QUESTIONABLE |
| D.Rhodes | Hip | DNP | DNP | LIMITED | QUESTIONABLE |
| J.Richard | Concussion | DNP | DNP | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| C.Session | Elbow | DNP | DNP | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| J.Thomas | Ankle/Back | FULL | FULL | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| R.Wayne | Knee | NONE | DNP/LTD | FULL | QUESTIONABLE |
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Thursday Injury Report: Jets v. Colts UPDATED
Jan 6th
UPDATE: Official report now. There was a conflict between the official Colts’ site and Jim Irsay’s tweet with respect to Reggie Wayne. Irsay tweeted Wayne was DNP, but the web site indicates he was only Limited. If limited, that implies to me that he’s just resting. I would assume we cannot count on any of the players who were DNP both days that were reported.
Here is what we know of today’s injury report. I will update as we get more information, including why Wayne was out, and whether there is any possibility we will see Kelvin Hayden, Clint Session or Dominic Rhodes.
| Player | Injury | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Status |
| A.Afalava | Ankle | N/A | FULL | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| R.Diem | Back | N/A | DNP | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| K.Hayden | Neck | N/A | DNP | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| A.Johnson | Chest | N/A | LIMITED | LIMITED | QUESTIONABLE |
| D.Muir | Chest | N/A | FULL | FULL | QUESTIONABLE |
| M.Newton | Hamstring | N/A | DNP | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| D.Rhodes | Hip | N/A | DNP | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| J.Richard | Concussion | N/A | DNP | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| C.Session | Elbow | N/A | DNP | DNP | QUESTIONABLE |
| J.Thomas | Ankle | N/A | FULL | FULL | QUESTIONABLE |
| R.Wayne | Knee | N/A | NONE | DNP/LTD | QUESTIONABLE |
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Wednesday Injury Report: Jets v. Colts
Jan 5th
Today’s injury report is a bit discouraging – although Coach Caldwell denied reports that Clint Session suffered any setbacks, the fact that he was full two days last week, then went limited last Friday and a no-show today indicates that he is unlikely to play on Saturday. Kelvin Hayden’s non-participation is also a bad sign. It is good, however, to get Al Afalava back – if nothing more than for depth.
DID NOT PARTICIPATE
OT Ryan Diem (Back)
DE Dwight Freeney (Rest)
CB Kelvin Hayden (Neck)
DE Robert Mathis (Rest)
S Mike Newton (Hamstring)
RB Dominic Rhodes (Hip)
OG Jamey Richard (Concussion)
LB Clint Session (Elbow)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION
DT Antonio Johnson (Chest)
FULL PARTICIPATION
DB Al Afalava (Ankle)
DT Dan Muir (Chest)
OG Jaimie Thomas (Ankle)
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