Ugoh and Pollak given "new leases on life"
by Brad Wells on Jul 3, 2010 9:06 AM EDT
in Colts News
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PrintTwo of the most disappointing draft picks in the Bill Polian era in Indianapolis are Tony Ugoh and Mike Pollak. Ugoh was drafted with (essentially) 2008's first round pick. Pollak was 2008's second round pick. Both were meant to be the young backbones for an offensive line that was getting up there with age.
With longtime great left tackle Tarik Glenn unexpectedly retiring just prior to the 2007 season, it accelerated the development process for Ugoh in particular. At first, Ugoh responded well, but in recent years he's been a mental mistake waiting to happen. The team lost faith in him, and he lost his starting left tackle spot to a 5th round draft pick named Charlie Johnson. With Pollak, he was drafted to replace valued interior guard Jake Scott, who left via free agency after 2007 and joined the Titans. Pollak, who played center in college, has never looked comfortable in the Colts system. He eventually lost his starting job last year to a free agent from the Arena Football League, Kyle DeVan.
However, if you are a fan of second chances, or "new leases on life" as some like call it, then Pro Football Weekly's Dan Arkush has a story for you.
From Arkush:
The winds of change started blowing at the team's OG spots early this offseason after longtime starting OLG Ryan Lilja was surprisingly released. The way we hear it, both Ugoh, a second-round pick in 2007, and Pollak, a second-round pick in '08, feel like they've been granted new leases on life in pursuit of possible starting OG berths this coming season."Ugoh, in particular, seems like a different guy," said one team source.
Both Ugoh, who lost the starting OLT job to Charlie Johnson last season, and Pollak, who suffered a similar fate when he was replaced at right guard by Kyle DeVan, simply fell out of favor with retired offensive line coach Howard Mudd.
"They just weren't producing, and once you got on Howard's bad side, you could typically forget about it," the source said. "But with Pete (Metzelaars) now in charge, it looks like both guys have been given a second chance."
I too have heard the stories of Howard Mudd's doghouse; how once you got on his bad side, you could pretty much kiss your Colts career goodbye. Howard had little patience for players who didn't commit, made repetitive mistakes, or just didn't pay attention.
Now, with Metzelaars running the show along the offensive line, the tone seems a bit different, and players who were in Mudd's doghouse now might have a new chance to prove themselves.
Ugoh worked some at guard during OTAs for the first time in his professional career. Along with Mike Pollak, the two are vying for two open guard spots on a team with six other candidates on the roster, including free agent Andy Alleman, 4th round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft Jacques McClendon, and last year's starter Kyle DeVan.
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Holding?
Am I seeing things or is Mike Pollak holding in the photo above? Are you allowed to pull on the jersey like that?
everyone holds
it’s just a matter of how blatantly and whether they are doing it in the right spots (i.e. if not holding would cause an even more negative play).
Choke/Clutch is the fetishization of the small sample size.
"People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." -Isaac Asimov
Even by that standard,
if it slowed Haye, that’s a hold that should be called. Probably wasn’t because Peyton still would’ve released the ball. The hold just likely saved him from a vicious hit as he released.
The other possibility is that while he’s grabbing, he didn’t actually slow Haye down. They let enough go even when the hold slows someone down a tenth of a second, so if that was just him getting beat then releasing the instant after the photo was taken, perhaps it gave him no advantage.
Cookie Cookie Cookie starts with C!
Off the subject a little bit,
can anyone tell me why holding on Freeney was rarely called?? maybe this has been discussed before but since I am relatively new here, I want to see if some Colts fans can enlighten me. It seems that every single game that I watch, he was held mostly around the neck or something of that nature (hahaa….) but no calls were made? Is that a rule that allows such holding on DEs that I am not aware of Thanks in advance!
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
The NFL changed the rule to benefit offensive linemen...
The rule now instructs officials to only call holding on offensive linemen if they feel that the hold impacted the outcome of the play. In other words, if an offensive lineman holds on a running play when the official “thinks” that the tackle would have been made earlier had the hold not occurred, he is to call the penalty. If the official “thinks” that had the offensive lineman not held Freeney he would have sacked the quarterback, caused a fumble, or otherwise altered the path of the pass, they should call a hold.
Obviously, this is a subjective determination that has to be made in a split second by officials and it seems that most of the time officials err on the side of offensive linemen not committing a penalty. It’s part of the reason holding calls are so surprising anymore and seem so random. The only exception for many officials, or so it seems, is if a hold is so blatant that they “have to call it.” Examples of this are more obvious versions of the picture above, where a defender’s jersey is stretched from his body as an offensive lineman grabs him to impede his progress.
Also, if an offensive lineman drags a defender to the ground, officials typically call that. If a defender is getting pressure and beating an offensive lineman but does is not clearly in position to make a play on the ball, the quarterback, or change the outcome of the play, then there is typically no call.
It’s unfortunate and makes sacks and pressures much harder to objectively determine. It’s hard to say how many more sacks, deflections, or fumbles players like Freeney would have if the rule was the same as it was for years. If you don’t know, this iteration of holding is even more offense friendly that the previous one, which changed from the original rule which required offensive lineman to not grab defenders in any way but to keep their hands inside of a defenders shoulderpads and only bump them to impede their progress.
Getting a sack or pressure in today’s NFL is much more difficult than in years past.
Ah... i see.....
and how Antwan Odom of the Bengals led the Bengals and the NFL in sacks before he went on IR after 6 games in 2009? anybody studied his plays? why was he so good??
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
Well...
The Bengals played Denver, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Houston. Only Houston and Cleveland were in the top 15 in sacks allowed as an offensive line last year. Pittsburgh and Green Bay were 31 and 32, respectively.
Odom had 5 sacks against Green Bay. He had two against Denver in week 1, first game with new coach, new quarterback, and new offensive scheme for Denver (16th sacks allowed). He didn’t have a sack in the following four games, including none against Pittsburgh and Baltimore (20th sacks allowed).
So he destroyed the worst offensive line in the NFL last year and did really well against a team in transition in their first regular season action. Very early in the season as well, so I’d say he just came out hot. We’ll see if he does the same this year. Otherwise, I’d call it skill versus crap lines or in crap situations (for his opponents).
Can we play Green Bay, please?
Odom had five in one game and Jared Allen had seven or eight in two games? I only saw one of those three games, but Rodgers was running for his life all game.
I get testy when Freeney puts up excellent sack and pressure numbers consistently over many games, then some clown happens to face the team of shitty blocking du jour and rings up five in one game. Suddenly he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread because he’s on Sports Center, despite being shut out for three games in a row…. While 93 just keeps producing and drawing DTs. Arrrgh.
I hate Joe Namath. That's how long I've been a Colts fan.
Great poins by bamock as usual.....
thanks!
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
because if they enforced holding to the letter of the law against Freeney
there’d be a lot of dead QBs. Not so good for the long term health of the league.
Cookie Cookie Cookie starts with C!
hahahaha.....
love the dead Qbs part…. that is funny…..
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
Nice article, but...
It’s a good thing that players who don’t commit, make repetitive mistakes and don’t pay attention are being given second chances?
by Collin McCollough on Jul 3, 2010 12:38 PM EDT reply actions
My thoughts too...
but everyone deserves a second chance. and perhaps the time they spent not playing was a wake up call. only time will tell, i suppose.
well I think the point was that the source thinks Mudd wrote guys off for that quickly
and even if they were able to fix their issues, Mudd had already dismissed them.
Choke/Clutch is the fetishization of the small sample size.
"People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." -Isaac Asimov
Thats what I think was meant
Please Read My 1st paragraph of profile to realize my multiple disabilities making it hard to type correctly if there are many typos etc
That's horseshit though
you don’t get into Mudd’s doghouse without earning it. OL play contains as much of a mental element as any position other than QB. Mental errors are just as bad if not worse than physical errors. Getting just plain beat by a superior athlete is forgivable. Falling asleep at the switch is not.
Cookie Cookie Cookie starts with C!
This i kinda agree...
The brutal nature of the game and the competition rarely allows players to make prolonged mistakes. It seems though in fact Ugoh and Pollack both had their chances to improve and play, especially because of their high draft status but they didn’t take advantage of it, unlike Tarik Glenn. However, if they are more useful in other positions, we shall see what will come out of it. I guess the Colts do want to see if they can recoup some of their investments on these high draft OLmen…. Hope they can take advantage of these 2nd chances. Moreover, it is not even Training Camp yet, whether they can make it thru and establish themselves in ANY of the OL position is still yet to be seen. But at least they are given a chance to do something else….
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
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