CloakNNNdagger
06-15-2012, 08:27 AM
It's interesting to note that the Colts are seemingly going to try to emulate the last year's Texans transition. Freely is apparently going to be asked to take the challenge that was asked of Maria last year. Beyond that facet, I don't think that the Colts have the personnel on D to make their transition work as it did for the Texans.
From THE INDY STAR:
Bob Kravitz: Indianapolis Colts LB Dwight Freeney shows he can change
6:21 AM, Jun. 15, 2012
Watching Dwight Freeney stand up is like listening to Marilyn Manson do a set of Sinatra songs. It just doesn't seem right. Freeney, the perpetual Pro Bowl right defensive end, has played with his hand on the turf from the moment he graced the NFL.
Now look at him at practice with the Indianapolis Colts. Standing up and then putting his hand on the ground. Putting his hand on the ground and then standing up. Playing the left side. Playing the right side. Moving around. Sometimes he works with the defensive line coaches. Sometimes he works with the linebackers. He's a hybrid in a hybrid defense.
Give the man credit; shoot, give both Freeney and Robert Mathis credit. Both are Pro Bowl players at their old defensive end positions, and both have not only accepted the move to a 3-4, 4-3 hybrid that has them playing a lot of linebacker, but both are excited about it.
"Listen, when you've been doing the same thing every single day, you get real good at it, but this is exciting, something fresh and new, and possibilities are endless,'' Freeney said the other day. "It's a proven defense. San Francisco, the Steelers, the Ravens, they're always in the top five in defense. The proof is there.
"I dropped back in coverage a bit my first couple of years, so it's not completely unfamiliar. The last six, seven years, I haven't dropped back at all, so it's just a matter of remembering what I used to do.''
Most of us think Mathis, who is smaller and quicker, will have the easier transition. Clearly, the Colts thought so, too, or they wouldn't have signed him to a new contract this summer.
Freeney, though, is a question mark for the first time in his career. Can he do more than simply terrorize quarterbacks and left tackles from the D-end position? Will he be Andre Carter, who couldn't make the transition? Or Brian Orakpo and Terrell Suggs, who did?
This is a one-year experiment, a one-year rental for the most part. At Freeney's contract number, there's little chance he'll return next year unless he somehow turns into a premier linebacker such as James Harrison or Lawrence Taylor. A young, growing team is not going to continue to pay an aging player making $18 million even more to play an unnatural position.
What you like, though, is the Colts don't have an Albert Haynesworth situation on their hands. Remember, Haynesworth had no interest playing in Washington's new 3-4 alignment and went completely in the tank before being drop-kicked out of town. Freeney has had no such public misgivings. In many ways, the move to outside linebacker is liberating, a chance to reinvent himself at an interesting point in his career.
"They've done a great job," said coach Chuck Pagano, referring to Freeney and Mathis. "Mostly because they have been here. The attendance has been phenomenal. So we knew there would be a bit of a learning curve, being in the 4-3 system for so many years and playing on the right side (Freeney) and playing on the left side (Mathis). Now they have to go with calls and all of the different things, dropping into coverage a little bit. But they have done a tremendous job and have picked it up very well."
Asked if this year's defense will look different than in years past, Pagano said, "Absolutely, because on first and second down, things will look a little bit different to your eye and to the fans' eyes as far as alignment. Again, we are a hybrid. On any of those downs, we can look the same as they looked last year, and once third down comes, we can get . . . exotic.''
What's interesting is, general manager Ryan Grigson cut his teeth in organizations that played the 4-3 defense, and was inclined to continue to play that style. But then he started looking around the league and noticed that most of the NFL's top defenses in recent years have gone with the 3-4 alignment. As a former offensive lineman, Grigson understood the 3-4 gives O-linemen the most headaches. When Pagano became available, thanks only to a field goal miss at the end of the AFC title game, Grigson knew the 3-4 was the way to go.
Look at the top four teams in total defense last year: Pittsburgh, a 3-4. San Francisco, built in part by current Colts defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, a 3-4. Baltimore, a longtime 3-4 staple. And Houston, which made the transition in just one year under Wade Phillips to the 3-4.
As the passing game becomes more prevalent, the 3-4 has turned into the modern version of Buddy Ryan's 46 defense, confusing and pressuring the quarterbacks who've come to dominate this league. Everybody who followed Peyton Manning's career remembers how the 3-4 often gave him fits. Recall those painful losses to New England, San Diego and Pittsburgh.
It's not a given that Freeney will ever be comfortable as an outside linebacker/defensive end/hybrid/whatever. But at least he has embraced the new defensive order. And that's half the battle.
From THE INDY STAR:
Bob Kravitz: Indianapolis Colts LB Dwight Freeney shows he can change
6:21 AM, Jun. 15, 2012
Watching Dwight Freeney stand up is like listening to Marilyn Manson do a set of Sinatra songs. It just doesn't seem right. Freeney, the perpetual Pro Bowl right defensive end, has played with his hand on the turf from the moment he graced the NFL.
Now look at him at practice with the Indianapolis Colts. Standing up and then putting his hand on the ground. Putting his hand on the ground and then standing up. Playing the left side. Playing the right side. Moving around. Sometimes he works with the defensive line coaches. Sometimes he works with the linebackers. He's a hybrid in a hybrid defense.
Give the man credit; shoot, give both Freeney and Robert Mathis credit. Both are Pro Bowl players at their old defensive end positions, and both have not only accepted the move to a 3-4, 4-3 hybrid that has them playing a lot of linebacker, but both are excited about it.
"Listen, when you've been doing the same thing every single day, you get real good at it, but this is exciting, something fresh and new, and possibilities are endless,'' Freeney said the other day. "It's a proven defense. San Francisco, the Steelers, the Ravens, they're always in the top five in defense. The proof is there.
"I dropped back in coverage a bit my first couple of years, so it's not completely unfamiliar. The last six, seven years, I haven't dropped back at all, so it's just a matter of remembering what I used to do.''
Most of us think Mathis, who is smaller and quicker, will have the easier transition. Clearly, the Colts thought so, too, or they wouldn't have signed him to a new contract this summer.
Freeney, though, is a question mark for the first time in his career. Can he do more than simply terrorize quarterbacks and left tackles from the D-end position? Will he be Andre Carter, who couldn't make the transition? Or Brian Orakpo and Terrell Suggs, who did?
This is a one-year experiment, a one-year rental for the most part. At Freeney's contract number, there's little chance he'll return next year unless he somehow turns into a premier linebacker such as James Harrison or Lawrence Taylor. A young, growing team is not going to continue to pay an aging player making $18 million even more to play an unnatural position.
What you like, though, is the Colts don't have an Albert Haynesworth situation on their hands. Remember, Haynesworth had no interest playing in Washington's new 3-4 alignment and went completely in the tank before being drop-kicked out of town. Freeney has had no such public misgivings. In many ways, the move to outside linebacker is liberating, a chance to reinvent himself at an interesting point in his career.
"They've done a great job," said coach Chuck Pagano, referring to Freeney and Mathis. "Mostly because they have been here. The attendance has been phenomenal. So we knew there would be a bit of a learning curve, being in the 4-3 system for so many years and playing on the right side (Freeney) and playing on the left side (Mathis). Now they have to go with calls and all of the different things, dropping into coverage a little bit. But they have done a tremendous job and have picked it up very well."
Asked if this year's defense will look different than in years past, Pagano said, "Absolutely, because on first and second down, things will look a little bit different to your eye and to the fans' eyes as far as alignment. Again, we are a hybrid. On any of those downs, we can look the same as they looked last year, and once third down comes, we can get . . . exotic.''
What's interesting is, general manager Ryan Grigson cut his teeth in organizations that played the 4-3 defense, and was inclined to continue to play that style. But then he started looking around the league and noticed that most of the NFL's top defenses in recent years have gone with the 3-4 alignment. As a former offensive lineman, Grigson understood the 3-4 gives O-linemen the most headaches. When Pagano became available, thanks only to a field goal miss at the end of the AFC title game, Grigson knew the 3-4 was the way to go.
Look at the top four teams in total defense last year: Pittsburgh, a 3-4. San Francisco, built in part by current Colts defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, a 3-4. Baltimore, a longtime 3-4 staple. And Houston, which made the transition in just one year under Wade Phillips to the 3-4.
As the passing game becomes more prevalent, the 3-4 has turned into the modern version of Buddy Ryan's 46 defense, confusing and pressuring the quarterbacks who've come to dominate this league. Everybody who followed Peyton Manning's career remembers how the 3-4 often gave him fits. Recall those painful losses to New England, San Diego and Pittsburgh.
It's not a given that Freeney will ever be comfortable as an outside linebacker/defensive end/hybrid/whatever. But at least he has embraced the new defensive order. And that's half the battle.