Jim Trotter was on Darren Smith a little bit ago and said they have feelers out with several players, and that he had exchanged texts with Eric Winston and he was told that the Chargers have been in contact with him and had expressed interest
http://blogs.colts.com/2013/03/19/colts-reach-agreement-in-principle-with-aubrayo-franklin/ Hell! There went any leverage we had with Vaughn assuming we had aspirations of returning a familiar NT rotation from last season. Alan Branch is more of a 5-Tech than a NT. Shaun Cody is mediocre at best. Fingers crossed for Sione Pouha on an affordable deal.
Chargers gotta hope they can sign Branch cheap as a rotational, bring back Martin or draft someone late (Kwamie Gathers?) to serve as a Cam Thomas backup
Unbelievable, I believe one of the main reasons we were ranked 6th in the run game was credited to Aubrayo Franklin. ******* Jimmy Raye. There still are serviceable NT's in the market. Sedrick Ellis, Casey Hampton, Antonio Johnson, Ma'ake Kemoeatu, Ty Warren. We just need to sign one and draft one. Another corner taken off the market today, DJ Moore signs with the Panthers I wanted him here.
Honestly, I'd just run with Martin and a rotational guy. Thus far Cam hasn't proven to me he can be "the guy" and we're not going to get much different doing rinse-repeat and investing in another late round NT. Shore up where we can this year, if value falls at NT in the 2nd (say Jonathan Hankins, John Jenkins, or even Kawann Short) and there's not better value available at OLB, I'd have no issue with going "value at anticipated need" and sinking a 2nd into a NTotF who can play some 5-Tech, rotate at NT, and once he's added functional strength and bulk, plug in at the position when Thomas his free agency (or at the very least give us leverage) in 2014. Honestly, you don't see a lot of quality starting 3-4 NT's that aren't early round selections.
Eh no to almost all of the ones you listed with the exception of Kemoe'atu. Ellis had trouble playing the 1-Tech in a 4-3, he'd get murdered at the 0-Tech in 3-4. Hampton's knees are DONE. Johnson's a 5-Tech (and if we were looking at 5-Tech's who could rotate at nose then Vonnie Holliday is likely a better look). Same goes for Ty Warren. Honestly, I'm not opposed to signing someone like Johnson or another 5-Tech, but in that instance I'd be more inclined to start shifting Liuget to NG then and begin developing another 5-Tech DE.
I don't know if I want to move Corey though. He was SO dominant last year. I think we just have to draft a NT in the 1st round. I mean, a DL consisting of Reyes-Lotulelei-Liuget, constantly rotating, all 3 of those guys can play NT, and be effective. That would be one hell of a defensive front.
We honestly need to sign a slot corner to keep up with Welker's quickness if we even want to compete with Denver this year, or he'll be catching 10+ balls those 2 games. Look at Welker's monster performances against the Bills last couple of seasons.
I don't like Star as a 3-4 NT. He's a Kevin Williams clone, not BJ Raji. You ask him to 2-gap (which is what we've been asking out NT's to do under Pagano) and you're wasting him. Liuget's a quality athlete - quality athletes with proper technique can/will produce almost anywhere you line them up if scheme'd properly. Corey's played the 0-Tech at Illinois. If we could trade back into the high 20's and nab Jesse Williams, I'm fine with that - though it essentially that's committing to going aggressively after someone like Armstead or Dallas Thomas in the 2nd (possibly at the expense of having to be aggressive and trade up). Best bet, honestly, is praying we can get Pouha on a 1-year deal similar to how we nabbed Franklin last year.
Denver's gone full-blown Dodgers/Yankees at this point. And as much as I loathe the franchise, we're better off going the route of the Red Sox than sacrificing long-term competitive viability in order to be "competitive" with the Broncos while they're going "all-in for Peyton".
Franklin may not've been great, but he was serviceable...... just having Cam leaves us in a bind. We need NT depth. A lack of depth is what has done this team in the last few years.
Because thus far he's been "picky" - i.e. he wants to go where he wants (a contender) and get paid too. If he's already come and gone to Pittsburgh and left without a contract then I'd wager his demands are well above a minimum salary. It appears that unless they're willing to sign contracts that give us easy out options after the first year or two, Telesco's not too keen on signing more Meachem/Royal types.
Brad Jones, ILB for the Packers, started 10 games last year and had 77 tackles, 2 sacks, and 4 pass defended, and 1 forced fumble. He works out in San Diego too, so I hope we were one of the 8 teams that he's met with. He graded out as the best 10 ILB in the league last year according to PFF, and will be 27 in a week or so.
I don't believe we even offered him an offer, but I also think he wanted to play for Rex, I read an article from his agent saying something like "he wishes he could have gotten Barnes more money, but he got him the best he could so he could be where he wanted to be"
Yeah i read that same article he wanted to be closer to his home town but damn i dont understand why we werent even slightly interested at all especially considering the small amount it woulda took to bring him back
Seriously, Franklin was just a scrub street free agent when we signed him. No one expected him to be a great player for us, so why do people think that we can;t find a guy just like him to take his spot?
Dunno about him being "just a scrub street FA" he was more than capable playing the nose. He was born to play NT and just because he floundered in the 4-3 in NO didn't mean he was a scrub. He's a loss no doubt about it, but at the same time replaceable.
Not saying he didn't play well, I am saying when they signed him, he was just a body. He was not someone that most people thought would be anything more than a backup or rotation guy. No one expected him to play well or as much as he did. I am just saying that there are under the radar guys like that every year. Just because none of us are targeting a guy, doesn't mean management isn't and doesn't mean the "just a body" guy we do pick up, won't play to a similar level as Franklin. Just pointing out that losing him isn't the end of the world
You do realize that there aren't a ton of true 3-4 NTs justing sitting around, don't you? The type of player we need is in very short supply. Getting "just a body" ain't going to cut it.
This sums it up. The NT makes such a difference to a 3-4 team, and when the NT is just another body you can see it in the team's defensive performance. A big part of the problem is that we just aren't looking to spend much money so we'll have to hope Telesco and the coaching staff can find/develop another Franklin. I'm more concerned that this becomes yet another position where we need to spend a precious draft pick.
There weren't last year either and yet we found one that no one thought would make a big impact. Getting "Just a body" is what we did last year and will do it again
I know it's not likely, But so far this off season we have heard from the FO and beat writers about a possible trade for a LT. Jim Irsay tweets about a trade coming for a WR. How great would it be if the Bolts and Colts made a trade for Bolts receive LT Anthony Castonzo, 2013 3rd, Colts receive WR Robert Meachem, and some draft picks Like I said, not going to happen, just wishful thinking.
Franklin wasn't "just a body" as you like to say...... he simply wasn't a good fit in the 4-3 the Saints were running. He is a good (if old) 3-4 NT against the run. He'll never be a pressure guy against the pass, but he can clog the middle against the run, and there aren't a lot of guys who do that well.
You may have got your wish. Read on another board a "Hacksaw" report (FWIW) that we're talking with CB Captain Munnerlyn. He'd match up with Welker as well as anyone. edit: typical quacksaw bs. Dude reupped with old team
