ESPN's Paul Kuharsky Dismisses Your Concerns About 'Replaceable' Nose Tackles
by Brad Wells on Aug 14, 2011 3:32 PM EDT
in 2011 Colts News
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Paul Kuharsky is a nice guy. I've met him a few times. We've chatted. I enjoy poking fun of his muted Jersey accent.
That said, he doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to the Colts and their defensive tackles. From his recent mailbag:
Todd from Pennsylvania writes: With the Colts apparently content to stand pat on the nose tackle position even though Antonio Johnson is the only true nose tackle with any experience on the roster, does he suddenly become the Colts second most important player to keep healthy? (behind Peyton Manning of course).
PK: Seriously? Replace a mediocre nose tackle with a bad nose tackle and it’s not a big deal. Replacing Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, Antoine Bethea, Austin Collie, or even Dallas Clark would be far, far more difficult. You can also find nose tackles on the street -- see Johnson as an example. They signed him from Titans’ practice squad when they got him.
Of starters, Johnson is probably the most replaceable.
Really, Paul? Well, if a nose tackle is so easy to find 'on the street,' as you state, why haven't the Colts been able to fully address the position, or provide quality depth behind Mookie? If they could sign just anyone, where is that 'anyone?' If it is the most replaceable, why the hell did they sign Corey Simon to that contract in 2005, or trade for Booger McFarland in 2006.
If it's so darn easy, if seemingly anyone can play the position, why have the Colts been so consistently gashed up the middle by mediocre running backs in this league?
FYI: Last night against the Rams in preseason, Cadillac Williams (no speed, bad knees) and Keith Toston (who?) bashed the Colts for 169 rushing yards at 4.1 a carry. Imagine what that number would have been in a real game, sans Mookie, and with a 'bad nose tackle,' as Kuharsky suggests.
What, I already know. It'd be like this one. And this. And perhaps a little of this.
I'm obviously not saying Mookie is more important than Dwight Freeney. But, without a true nose tackle who can stand up against the run, it doesn't matter if the Colts have Freeney, Mathis, or a robot Dick Butkus with flamethrowers for hands. Teams will ram the football down Indy's throat, limit their passing opportunities, and beat the Colts in the first round of the playoffs like they've done three of the last four years.
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a robot Dick Butkus with flamethrowers for hands is an available freeagent. Sign him!
~Believe
by Believe in Blue on Aug 14, 2011 3:47 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 1 recs
Robot Butkus
How would a flamethrowing Butkus not help?! We could play without Manning all season and still win the Super Bowl! Please sign Robot Butkus ASAP!
They need to fix this now.
The Colts D doesn’t work without a good NT. Freeney and Mathis don’t get paid to pull down running backs, LB’s don’t matter at 4.1 ypc and DB’s would be as well pulling up a table and chairs for a game of poker if the opposing QB only needs to throw the ball a handfulof times.
I like Mookie but on any other team he’s a backup at best. If we put ourself in third and short situations on a regular basis we can wave bye bye to the playoffs. With a better NT ahead of him, Mookie could become even better.
The worrying thing for me is that the Colts are losing the fear factor that they built up over the years culminating in the SB win. Mediocre teams with a running game will always feel they have a chance while teams with a balanced offense are quite simply too good for our D.
by TartanColt1 on Aug 14, 2011 5:11 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
My ultimate fear has to do with the coaches, not the players. Seems as thou we could bring over Haloti Ngata and even he would under-perform in our system. Maybe that’s the underlining problem so many of our high draft selection are looking like bust. A good ring leader can make a bear dance and ride a unicycle. But, a bad one will have the same bear running over to the crowd and mauling people. Could be time to put the spotlight on the real issue plaguing the Colts.
NeXt Man Up
by Dann Giszewski on Aug 14, 2011 5:21 PM EDT reply actions 6 recs
i rec'd cause i love the metaphor, though I disagree coaching is horrible
Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game and dumb enough to think it's important. -- Eugene J. McCarthy
I like PK but he is 100% wrong on this one. Session and Brackett have talked before about how much better they play when AJ is in to protect them. Session talked about it again when he talked about how much better it is to play behind Terrence Knighton in Jax.
After the 1st preseason game it is apparent that Nevis, Mathews, and Ogbu are not the answer to rotate with AJ.
Missing the point
You’re definitely missing the point. PK is saying that it would not be difficult to a NT that is as good as anything the Colts have on the roster right now. I think he is right. I agree with you that the Colts have to improve that position but what PK is saying is correct.
Who really cares is my point
First, the comparison of anything during the preseason to how the regular seasons going to be is hilarious. The Colts have never made much effort to win a preseason game, as they are like 5-40 over the last 10 years or so. Let’s not get all that worried about a team that plays their starters for almost 2 quarters vs. a team that was running 3rd, 4th, and possibly even 5th string guys out for virtually every down after the 5 min mark of the 1st quarter (slight exaggeration but close).
Secondly, the Colts defense was obliterated by injuries to just about everyone from the LB to the Secondary all season last year. Add to that the injuries on offense and the defense just about got left out to dry. Valiant effort all around, but it wasn’t ALL their faults.
Third and finally, the Colts played one of the more run dominant schedules in recent memory, as almost every team they faced was a run first mentality. Facing that with a scrub secondary and a DLine that is playing too much…well…you saw the results…
I’m not making excuses for the Colts. They need to shore up the position at NT. That’s a given and something we all have been saying since Booger went down. However, give the Colts a chance before anyone starts screaming the sky is falling. I’ll reserve my judgement for the games that actually count..
by DevilsReject on Aug 14, 2011 6:56 PM EDT reply actions 3 recs
I agree with Kuharsky...
…we’ve adequately addressed the position with nobodies before, and we could do it again. I’m not convinced that Muir did so poorly before…
then you didn't watch very closely
Muir and Moala were out of position at 4-3 NT and their play bore that out. Moala needs to stay at UT except maybe on 3rd and long.
Need to see Moala and Mathews play this year
Rotating Moala, Nevis and Harris at UT while rotating AJ & Mathews at NT may be the eventual plan but I have to see both Moala and Mathews play in some form to make any assessment. Thanks to LSU stinking it up, Drake Nevis from the SEC was even available for us in round 3.
Maybe Polian’s memory is losing it and he meant Mathews when he said Nevis will play back up NT. Isn’t Ricardo playing backup NT in practice?
Ollie Ogbu will just be a PS body, when it is all said and done, let us not get too excited. He just reminds me of a smaller Marlon Favorite, who got cut after pre-season for us.
Muir signed with the Rams, Dawson with the Lions – so we got both of them off our roster. Did Anderson play run down DE vs the Rams?
If not, Moala, Mathews and Anderson – hopefully one or two of them bring something good to the table. That is when we can really evaluate our D-line, when those parts show what they are capable of.
Mathews
Is Mathews #91? Whoever that was, got dominated on every play. I was paying attention to the D line on defense the entire time and he was completely ineffective.
If he isn’t 91, then whoever that was needs to be cut or change positions.
I don't always drink beer....but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.
by AceOfSpades on Aug 14, 2011 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions
It's schematics as much as personnel
When you analyze the Rams game, one of the most frustrating things is to watch the d line slant 3 men to the strong side and leave a gap between the 1 tech and the DE. This naturally leaves blockers to plow a lane for the running back and make contact on our backers. The result is a gash of 7 – 15 yards. I hate that with a passion!! Why would you slant and leave a natural cutback lane for the opposition?If you do that, simply have the backers to flow to the void and meet the blockers at the LOS similar to what the bears do. Sure I agree let’s get another big body at NT to shore up the line. BTW, I think that will happen between the last cut down and after the 1st week in order to save money, find talent that teams want to hide on the PS or perhaps reduce guarantees. Either way both schematics and personnel are problems for the d line. AND for crying out loud will somebody teach these rushers how to leap in the passing lanes to bat the ball down!!! We never get tipped balls at the line of scrimmage which is another reason why or 3rd down % is too high on D.
Agree
I noticed the slanting during the Houston game in week 1 last year. It was driving me crazy all game. It totally takes the leverage out of the player when he runs sideways and then just gets zone blocked out of the way with his back to the ball.
I don't always drink beer....but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.
by AceOfSpades on Aug 14, 2011 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions
DL interior sucks
Just in general it appears that the Colts can’t keep talent healthy, happy, and performing. I blame the Polian Clan…
@IndyVerm
polians
if you notice Bill Polian has always been good at getting enough talent on teams to get them near a championship but cant put the last piece or two in to get it. Even with how venerated he is he wouldn’t have a championship at all if not for the miraculous comeback against the patsin 06
Average, below average above average
It’s all BS. The fact is when he started last season the D was a much better. When he was not on the field the run D sucked. Think second half of the Jets loss, or any of the other six losses last year.
Also another fact is he is absolutely the best NT that the colts have had since Booger, with out him the D is not as good. There is no way that any one on the team is as good as he is right now he is irreplaceable. Think back to 2008 when we lost an average Ed Johnson they did sign people off the street yet they still stuck with a rookie, Eric Foster, at NT, the season was lost.
If AJ gets injured the team will not be as good.
Defense is more important than breathing.
As always...
You completely misrepresent what someone else has said and blow your lid for absolutely no reason. Your like a politician. Clueless.
by MileHighHoosier on Aug 15, 2011 8:53 AM EDT reply actions
NT?
Look at what the Colts did after the trade for Booger in 06. The run defense did not improve at all. It only improved after Bob Sanders started blowing up rushers after a scheme change below is our rushing defense status after the Booger trade. It has less to do with our NT than our shady LB play. More BBS throwing crap on the wall and hoping it sticks.
We traded for Booger after the bye week and until the playoff’s the Colts where giving up a 150 yards per game against the rush.
It was a combination of variables. One was Sanders, but there are two others that shouldn’t go uncredited – one of which is related to Sanders as well.
1) Morris to SAM over Gardner
2) A change in defensive scheme to pinch the DEs down on their gaps.
Regarding #2, Indy played two teams that wanted to establish the run first and foremost, especially given the Colts’ run defense during the regular season (KC & Balt). Pinching the gaps took away the wide lanes often seen for draws and shovel passes when Freeney & Mathis speed rush to the outside. Even with an outside maintain philosophy, reducing the size of the gap 1) surprised opponents given what they saw on tape and 2) enabled the LB and/or Sanders to fill that gap more easily.
Dungy was even quoted as saying something along the lines of keeping the defensive scheme 95% the same – the 5% change was the tweak of the defensive ends.
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