Colts should make a play for Adewale Ogunleye or Alex Brown
by Brad Wells on Mar 26, 2010 10:00 AM EDT
in Colts Analysis
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PrintAdewale Ogunleye and Alex Brown were the bookends at defensive end for the Bears defense from 2005-2009. They were damn good at their jobs, too. While not as quick or as good as Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, Ogunleye and Brown were consistent at pressuring the QB and disrupting running lanes.
Recently, after the Bears (stupidly) shelled out a ton of money for the (over-rated and lazy) former defensive end for the Panthers (Julius Peppers), Ogunleye was let go and Brown was placed on the trading block.
With Raheem Brock now released, and with Freeney hitting 30, the reality is the Colts do not have enough depth at defensive end to have a Super Bowl-caliber defense. Drafting someone is, of course, nice. But, I'm not interested in seeing the Colts developing someone who can rush the passer two or three years from now. They need a skilled defensive end right now.
At present, Brown offers more ability Ogunleye recovering from a broken leg, Ogunleye is the local favorite since he played his college ball at Indiana University. Also, when healthy, Ogunleye has proven to be more consistent than Brown. With a chance to get a ring and to play on a defense with Freeney, Mathis, Brackett, and Sanders, the Colts would have to be a very attractive target for Ogunleye. Also, consider he has spent much of his career in Chicago, and Indianapolis is only three hours drive from there.
Trading for Brown is a slight possibility, but unlikely. Still, he offers more right now than any defensive end I can see in the later rounds of the draft.
Getting someone like Ogunleye or Brown would do a lot to ease the pass rushing burden off Freeney and Mathis. It is simply not sustainable to continue to lean so heavily on those two guys to generate pressure.
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One of these two, or the guy from Philly would be great for a year.
Next year, Polian could address the DE position properly, this year everything else.
Agreed
Having lived in Chicago for the last 5 years, I can certainly attest to the ability of both Brown and Ogunleye. The only issue i see, especially with Brown, is the injury bug. I’d be more inclined to take Ogunleye simply for his Indiana ties.
I’m with Ty and BBS on this one, use free agency for DE depth, and concentrate on other areas for the draft. Seeing as how Bill Polian has had some recent misses in the draft with O-line players, I’d much rather see him concentrate on that.
Also live in Chicago
And couldn’t disagree more. Ogunleye and Brown had good seasons the year they went to the Super Bowl, but since then they have each been average at best. Brown has never proven that he is anything more than a pass rushing specialist and Ogunleye would be a marginal improvement over Brock as a DE, but he is hurt, older, and less versatile.
Here are the raw numbers for these guys since 2002 (Tackles/Assists/Sacks)
Ogunyele:
293/91/66.5
Brown:
305/67/43.5
Brock:
213/74/28.5
So even though they were the main DEs on their team and Brock was the 3, they put up only slightly better numbers. Plus both are not as versatile as Brock who played ST and DT for us. If we were willing to let Brock walk, I have no idea why we would want to go after either of these guys.
Plus as with most of these pipe dreams...
Ogunleye is off the list of players we can go after because he is a UFA and Brown is still signed. I guess they might release him, but why would we trade for a marginal improvement over Brock?
All good points
Not being a Bears fan, I haven’t followed their careers enough to know the in’s and outs of their abilities. All I know is that they have been moderately to fairly effective when able to stay on the field. Plus, if it’s only for depth sake, then I don’t see why, if we were more than willing to keep Brock for as long as we had, wouldn’t we be at least interested in players who, as you put, were even marginal improvements over Brock.
Looking at your stats, I would actually consider Ogunleye to be more than a marginal improvement, considering he boasts almost 40 more sacks and 80 more tackles than Brock. Think about a healthy Ogunleye coming in for Freeney in the second half of the Super Bowl. A pure pass rusher like him would certainly have been a benefit in that situation.
Is it a pipe dream? Yes, of course. But that’s all we have before the draft.
eddie
You make a lot of good points, however, it really doesn’t fit in to Polians free agent style or draft style. I would also like to see Ogunleye as a Colt. Polian’s tendancies and philosophy almost make it impossible to happen.
If Russia attacked Turkey from the rear, Do you think Greece would help?
reply fail lol
Co-Leader of the annual 7 round live mock draft at MtD
by TheAngelsColts on Mar 26, 2010 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions
Oh, I’m totally aware that it’s a fantasy and it doesn’t fit what we typically do. I was just saying that were it to happen, I wouldn’t be upset and would certainly encourage the move. Then again, with all the moves that have already taken place, I’m not sure that the typical Colts way of doing things is still 100% applicable.
Looks like we’re all in a wait and see situation.
I've always liked Ogunleye
And I wouldn’t mind seeing the guy come to Indy. The only question I’d normally have is “at what price?” but hey! Uncapped year coming up! While that doesn’t mean Open The Floodgates, Damn The Accountants (nobody has unlimited money to throw around), it does mean that cap concerns for at least the next year are most likely nonexistent.
Unless there’s a miracle agreement all of a sudden.
Still, though, my point is that I’d love to see Ogunleye in blue and white. I just don’t know what the cost effectiveness is beyond the salary cap, and whether the front office would see him as a good value as a free agent or not. But I would hope they’d see good value in him.
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"How can a pickup truck contain enough mass to unfold into a towering machine? I say if Ringling Brothers can get 15 clowns into a Volkswagen, anything is possible."
sounds like a viable option.
I dont think Polian will do it though. I Dont believe Polian has sign a free agent veteran dlineman since booger mc farland. I would expect to see Polian draft 1 or 2 de’s.
If Russia attacked Turkey from the rear, Do you think Greece would help?
Not going to happen.
With the money we’ve invested in Mathis and Freeney, we are not going to throw a big check after another DE.
"It's the greatest job in the world until Peyton comes off the field and you think his thumb might be broken and there's three minutes left in the AFC Championship Game and you're down by three to New England and you haven't taken a snap all year. Yeah, it's a great job until that point." - Jim Sorgi
Yes, sh!t, I thought he was released.
This rule is terrible. A lot of guys are out there, not getting a job, because 4 teams can’t sign anybody.
Alex Brown will be released though as was Darren Howard.
Oh, he is? Crud.
Yeah, the link does say “unsigned” rather than “released”. And that matches what I read elsewhere. Shoot.
Well, poor BBS didn’t seem to know that – no fault of his; I didn’t either – but it sure changes what I think about this. Sure, I’d still like to see him wear a horseshoe, but I now know it’s not possible.
Well… maybe Matt Stover will decide not to retire and get signed elsewhere. ;)
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"How can a pickup truck contain enough mass to unfold into a towering machine? I say if Ringling Brothers can get 15 clowns into a Volkswagen, anything is possible."
even if he does
we could only sign a replacement UFA at the same contract level that Stover gets… as much as I heart Matt Stover, that ain’t much value for us, unforunately
How can you not love a team that does this?
I like the idea too....
Hope something can be done here. Based on the SB44 experience with Dwight Freeney hurt, our 2nd half is toast…..
Over Reliane on Few players
The only complaint that I have against Polian’s philosophy is the over reliance on couple of guys.
1.2007-Over reliance on Bob sanders .No Bob sanders no run support. Chargers ran all over us .
2.2008 -Over reliance on Dwight freeney.Again Chargers ran all over us.
3.2009-Over reliance on Dwighf Freeney .Saints have all the time to throw….
4.Secondary- No Jackson , Power and Lacey…Jennings comes in gives cushion and we saw a replay of first down upon first down…
Why does this team always put itself in these positions. Why cannot the front office understand placing all your eggs in one basket does not work.
How easy will it be for Freeney to get injured again…The guy is a super healer …always charged up to play…and as he ages how often can Mathis/Freeney generate pressure.
We need a balanced defense not a defense built around some key players.
Peyton has few more years to retire and I want the guy to get his just dues by winning few more superbowls.
by Horseshoe_Tsunami on Mar 26, 2010 3:19 PM EDT reply actions
To be fair, it has worked
As much as I agree with your sentiment in general, I think you are missing the bigger picture. The salary cap era means you have to decide how you can spend your money. Teams can no longer have proven/awesome athletes waiting in the wings in case of injury, it just isn’t a choice.
And the Colts have a pretty good record in the Salary Cap era, I’m not sure I want them to change.
This may change in the future, but I assume due to the small market nature of the Colts, it will actually be worse for them in that scenario.
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