I have to hand it to CBSSports.com writer Peter Prisco: He did his homework for this year's Colts camp preview. Prisco is picking an "out of nowhere man" for each team's roster. This is a player who could come from "out of nowhere" and make an impact. Prisco selected rookie DT Eric Foster, who has impressed the Colts coaches all throughout the off-season and training camp. This tells me Prisco knows the team and is following what they are doing, rather than mailing in some crap camp preview that has about as much insight into the team's roster make-up as the phone book. So, bravo Pete!
Prisco also addressed the nasty rumor that spread all throughout the off-season, that the Colts have somehow regressed and this is the year teams like the Jaguars finally get past them. Prisco, like any other intelligent person who actually knows and watches football, laughed at this rumor, and spent the majority of his article squashing it so badly that if anyone else peddles this rumor again, it should be a tell tale sign that they are an idiot and don't know football.
It starts out as a murmur, gathers steam, spreads throughout the NFL like a Lindsay Lohan rumor does in the tabloids, and then people start to think the perception has become a reality.
One of those perceptions that seems to have gained a lot of traction since the end of the 2007 season is that Indianapolis is a team in regress, moving away from that team that won a Super Bowl 18 months ago and more toward a second-level AFC team.
The reality is this Colts team has more talent than the 2006 team that won the Super Bowl.
Prisco provides quotes from players like Reggie Wayne, who said this years squad is the most talented he has ever played on. Bob Sanders is also excited about the squad, citing that the defense will finally return all of its starters from last season, rather than replace many of them.
Prisco also does his due diligence, pointing out that Freeney's health is paramount to a great Colts season. But Prisco also hearts Bill Polian, calling him the best personnel man in football. Prisco also thinks Polian has a staked roster that can challenge anyone, anywhere, at anytime:
President Bill Polian, the man who put the team together, has a stacked roster.
"Talent wise, I think we're a bit better, but that remains to be seen," Polian said. "We'll find that out over the course of the preseason. I never make any judgments at this point, nor do I pay any attention to offseason standings. So right now I don't know. After the third preseason game I'll have a pretty good feel for where we are. I am very optimistic, but a lot of that depends on health."
So, all in all, a good camp preview by ole Pete. I've had my run-ins with Pete in the past, but today Pete did us proud by writing a solid preview, confirming a lot of good information we too have heard.