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Photo: via www.projo.com |
Even though the Colts spent much of Saturday and Sunday adding excellent depth to the roster, that does not mean the Colts should turn a blind eye to cheap, talented, free agent talent especially when that talent is proven. I understand people think Dom Rhodes might have "character issues," but the reality is he was a pretty stand up guy when he played in Indy for years. Yes, he had his run-ins with the law. No, Dom Rhodes is not a saint. However, unlike Kenton Keith, Dom Rhodes is a proven RB. When Kenton Keith runs for 113 yards and a TD with only 21 carries in the Super Bowl, then I'll call him proven. When Kenton Keith decimates the best defense in football (Baltimore) in their house (Baltimore) keeping the football away from their offense for over 7 minutes to seal an amazing and improbable playoff game (Baltimore, Baltimore, Baltimore!) then I will call him proven.
My own personal annoyance with Kenton Keith has more to do with his on-the-field screw-ups that have cost us games rather than his one run-in with local police. The police thing was an annoying screw-up that just adds more to fans not liking him. I have ZERO tolerance for anyone who has trouble catching friggin' screen passes, dump offs, or check downs. This is not rocket science. Catch. The. F&%king. Ball. Even worse, K2 lets it get batted in the air against the Chargers, and you've got another turnover.
Now, is Dom guilty of doing similar things? Yes. Remember Tedy Bruschi ripping the football from him in the 2004 playoff game? Remember Dom fumbling in the 2006 AFC Championship Game near the goal line? Jeff Saturday did recover it for a TD, but Dom did fumble in crunch time. Remember my post about Dom not playing hard in 2005? Dom is no saint, but, unlike Kenton Keith, Dom is proven.
And, quite frankly, Dom is just better.
Unlike Keith, Dom can actually catch the ball. He is an excellent blocker. I personally think that the more RBs you have, the better; especially if they can produce for you and not kill your cap. Add to this mix a solid draft pick like Mike Hart, and the Colts would have four excellent RB options, including Keith (who Indy should really keep because he is so good punching it in along the goal line). Again, the more the merrier.
The same holds true for DEs. Freeney is recovering from foot surgery and Robert Mathis has knee problems last year. Both are expected back 100%, but that doesn't comfort me. Drafting Marcus Howard was smart, but if the Colts can add a healthy Rosey Colvin to the mix (and play him down on the line as a DE), it just adds more depth and more options to level opposing QBs. Tom Brady was killed in the Super Bowl because the Giants never let up, and the reason the Patriots beat Indy in the regular season last year is because the Colts did.
The reason? Indy ran out of healthy bodies. New York didn't.
Both Colvin and Rhodes will likely not cost much. Colvin is injury prone, and is looking to prove he can still play. Dom was just cut by the Raiders, which is like wearing a scarlet letter on your forehead. I mean, if the friggin' Raiders think he suck, you must really be at the bottom of the talent barrel. Dom recently spoke about the wacky goings on in Raiders Land (from AOL Fanhouse):
I don't see the reason why the Raiders needed to draft a running back, you know what I'm saying? I mean, we have a stable full of running backs, that ran for 100 yards every one of them. And then we went and drafted a guy -- he's a great runner, don't get me wrong -- but, I don't understand the logic, everybody wanted to do this or that; it was never saying, "Okay, we're all going to do this together." I mean, there were just a whole bunch of fires everywhere, and ... then they seemed to blaze out of control.
I don't really think Lane Kiffin wanted to take a running back in the first round, let's just put it like that ... he has to deal with it now, but I don't think that's what he wanted to do.
The point of all this is we know Dom can still play, and if he can it is so obvious the Colts should sign him it isn't even funny. And if Colvin is healthy, he should get signed as well. Even though he has acted like a jerk as a Patriot, the guy used to sell concessions at the RCA Dome when he was a kid. He grew up a Colts fan. I'm sure it is a dream of his to play for the Colts before he retires.