And thus, the Roy Hall experiment quietly ends

Opens a door for him.

Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon were the starting receivers for pretty much the entire 2009 season. Because Pierre Garcon is bigger, stronger, and faster than Gonzo. Because the starting combo of Reggie and Pierre almost won a Super Bowl. That’s why.

He’s just driving home his 2007 draft class sucked message/opinion.

The reasons he just outlined are all well and good but I could point out that a Garcon drop was one of the biggest momentum swinging moments in the game. I could point out that it’s irresponsible to make a claim that Gonzalez has or likely has lost his starting spot to another player on the team because at no time while he has been healthy has he been behind any wide receiver on the current roster not named Wayne.

I could also point out that Gonzalez was/is a budding star who suffered an unfortunate injury that kept him out of 2009 and that it is my opinion that, absent the injury, there is good reason to believe that Gonzo would have topped 1,000 yards receiving last year (and also likely he put up more TDs than Garcon as well). He was also getting his timing down with Manning in a scary good way… as preseason last year would attest, having one of the most “Harrison-like” end-zone fade grabs I’ve seen for a few years.

All these things are relevant but none will change his opinion. And that’s okay… we’re all allowed to have one. And at SB, BBS is king :)

Again, it depresses the hell out of me to give that draft a D. I shouted from the mountain tops back in 2007 as to how awesome that draft was. Now, it was crap.

I need a drink.

Provoke you? He isn’t the starter. Why would the Colts bench Garcon, who almost helped them win a Super Bowl, for Gonzalez, who is coming off two or three knee surgeries?

And that drafting better players in later drafts or otherwise signing them through free agency, doesn’t play for BBS. A draft is evaluated in a vacuum for him, 2007 draft picks 1-9… only 4 left… only one starter… one who probably won’t stick this year… one injured a year ago = suck draft.

For me, the story is far more complex than that, for 2007 and any draft.

Hughes, like it or not, was drafted for CB depth (not unlike this year’s draft). He played for two years, sparingly in a defensive role, primarily in a ST role (what most back-ups do) and he was a strong ST contributor. He made one or two solid plays defensively as well.

Something happened in 2009, head coach and defensive coordinator changed, the Colts drafted a corner they hoped would replace Marlin Jackson in the starting lineup and be a key contributor as Jackson entered his contract year, he was stellar (Jackson was coming off of injury-played 2008).

An undrafted free agent CB joined the squad and far exceeded any expectations to make the squad… that resulted in two CBs on the roster who would both eventually start multiple games and no room left for Hughes as former 2nd Round selection Tim Jennings would round out the “functional” corner depth. Never a starter, therefore low on the grading totem pole… despite multiple circumstances that led to his eventual release.

Roy Hall was an experimental pick, with the physical tools to bring something to the Colts receiving corps it never had before. The “can’t catch” claims are somewhat superficial as he had such a small sample size it’s hard to know what he could do and by all counts he was suggested his hands vastly improved in the summer leading up to 2009. What killed him was injuries. I suppose you can call that a bad pick, but predicting injuries is not something I can claim as a skill. Maybe Polian should be able to.

Pitcock was an important part of our DT rotation in 2007 and was a player that I would assume most fans were excited to see in 2008 after his year to develop. His abrupt and unforeseeable retirement from football caught everyone, I would assume, by surprise. Maybe Polian and Co. should have been able to foresee that too? Either way, grading the pick as bad, now, is somewhat silly given the circumstances but again, in a vacuum it makes sense.

Coe belongs in the project department and was also derailed primarily due to a string of injuries.

2007
2 Year 3rd WR with amazing potential whose performances in key situations helped the Colts win some big games. Known for great hands, route running, speed and elusiveness after the catch. Harrison’s retirement opened the door for a true break-out season for a freak injury to end his season early.
2 Year starting LT, probably one of the best back-up LTs in the league, and a player who helped the Colts offensive line allow the 4th and 7th lowest sacks of any team in the NFL. Charlie Johnson’s development, along with injuries and other concerns saw him lose his starting job. His future is not yet known. Either way, his role was absolutely imperative as Glenn abruptly retired before his rookie season began.
2 Year starting LB, led the team in tackles in his second year as a starter and 3rd year in the league, a part of the most talented LB group the Colts have seen since Washington/Thornton.
2 Year special teams contributor, one of the best on the team, with some situational time on defense, replaced by two eventual starting caliber CBs in 2009 after a defensive coordinator and head coach change.
1 Year key contributor on the defensive line who abruptly retired before his sophomore season began.
3 Failed project/developmental players, 2 to strings of injuries (Coe/Hall and Condren).
2 Year key contributor along the defensive line, and one year back-up defensive end, without which the defense would have been in shambles due to the abrupt retirement of an aforementioned player. Replaced after the Colts brought in Muir, Johnson, and Foster (all larger DTs, more suited to play DT, and a part of the best defensive line the Colts have seen in a few years).

The point is… sometimes better players come along and win spots, sometimes injuries or other issues happen that cannot be foreseen. Regardless, there is much more to the story and the team got key contributions in multiple phases of the game for a period of 2 years since the 2007 draft from 5 of their nine picks and important contributions from another for one season before he retired. NFL = not for long for a reason. To call it a “D” in my mind… 3 years later, is harsh, short-sighted, and fails to examine the whole story.

do you not remember BBS saying at the start of last year that it was Bullitt’s job and Sanders had to start out part time and take it from him?

We hired the dumbass named Ron Turner.

/facepalm

You’ve been missed, btw.

I feel like I should have bolded or underlined or italicized some things there, but I didn’t, so anyhow, I want to put a disclaimer in there:

I don’t care if you like DVOA or not. I’m comparing two wide receivers using the same measures. Whether or not those measures are 100% accurate shouldn’t be the issue, since they are being applied evenly to both players. Also, the fact that one player handles his balls 21% better, which isn’t a ‘sabermetric’ stat dohingy thing, but, instead, just black and white fact, is a pretty big fucking deal from someone that’s supposed to be a #2/#3 receiving target (if you’d like to get into the semantics of whether or not Clark is the #2).

But fancy this, if Garcon caught 75% of his balls last year (jesus, the insane high school humour with this never gets old) how many more man coverages from LBs would Clark have been able to abuse? Last year teams were STILL loading up on Clark and Wayne despite the fact that Pierre Garcon is the greatest Haitian receiver in the history of Haitian receivers. I mean, let’s all get in the Spaz Way Back Machine and remember the end of the 2nd quarter of a little game I like to call the Dinner Plate, if one #2 receiver named Pierre Garcon catches a 15 yard dig route, the Colts win that game, instead he drops a perfect pass, the Saints kick a field goal, get the onside kick, and the hair pulling commences. But hey, LETS PENCIL HIM IN FOR #2.

He’ll be a force with Darren Sproles in the backfield.

Rec’d.

Rec’d.

In a 3WR set any day. And I love Garcon.

See my post above. He is clearly doing this to provoke the outrage, and once again I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

What has become really clear to me is that BBS is a very talented blog leader. His writing not so great, but man does he keep people coming back for more.

It is just making me dislike this blog though, if I weren’t an addict I’d stop coming back (and if the other writers weren’t so good).

I have no problem grading any Colts decision poorly, that is not what bothers me at all. I just want to know what the criteria are and how they really compare to other teams and other years. That is what makes something critical analysis. This is just worthless blathering.

I also don’t like using lies to back up your claim. Claiming that Gonzo is not the starter is just as bad as saying “an anonymous source within the Colts says that they hate the 2007 draft.” Neither can be proven, both are appeals to a higher source, but in the first the higher source is BBS himself.

It’s sloppy and lazy, and I expect better. The other writers here provide better.

But isn’t Collie playing in Gonzo’s normal spot? I mean I know there was talk about moving Gonzo to Harrison’s old spot permanently (which Gonzo played in last year). As I recall though Gonzo usually played slot in 3 WR sets with Wayne on the left and Harrison on the right. I know the idea may still be to move Gonzo out to Harrison’s spot, but wouldn’t it be more prudent to put him in the slot where he has played most of his time and where he would probably be more comfortable? Again, maybe I’m just being dense but I would have thought it more likely to have a battle for the slot position. I think at this point its kind of useless arguing second, third, fourth in the depth chart. I’m willing to just call a 3 way tie for second and play 4 wide with Clark being another receiver and Addai being the dump off option. I really don’t think even the Jets and their bloated secondary could defend that.

last week when his name came up I posted my stunnedness…. to coin a phrase… that he was still around.