Colts Recap Preseason Week 2

to start off I am just going to dive in on the last preseason game vs Minnesota Vikings, a few quick takeaways. Have to start with the QB battle for back up position, most people think that Eason has the position locked down, I get the feeling that it is the way the coaches are leaning as well. After watching the game I’m personally not a fan of either winning the backup QB battle as of right now, both have strengths and some glaring weaknesses. Ehlinger started the game and during the first quarter threw his first pick of the game. This is due to the tackle being pushed right back in to him and with his height , he could not see over the the players in front of him, and he threw the ball to where the reviver was. Of course it was too high, got tipped, and was picked off for a pick 6. The second pick of the game came in the second quarter with 5:53 left to play, he definitely forced the ball in some tight coverage and it was tipped up in the air and picked off again. Eason didn’t have a breakout game either by any means 16/27 and 132 yards, no turn overs but no touchdowns, which is why I think he leads the back up QB battle.

My take away thoughts on it, is I like Ehlinger as his strengths as he is better at reading the defense, getting guys in the right sport before the play starts, is decisive on where he is going to go with the ball, and lastly he can make plays with his legs. He also seams to have little bit more a leadership quality to him and he doesn’t seam to let the moment get to him. His biggest weaknesses is of course his height, his lack of arm strength, and of course when he decides where he going to go with the ball he will force it in there.

The reason Eason has the lead in the battle is of course his arm strength. You can’t teach that, and he has that prototypical QB height and weight to him. His weaknesses are that he has no touch to his passes, he gunned a ball in on a short 6 yard route, and it just bounced out of the receivers hands as it was just thrown too hard. He also can not read defenses as well, he misses getting players in the right spot for protection, he doesn’t trust his reads, doesn’t go through his progression, and will tend to hold the ball too long kinda like a Jacoby 2.0. I think both of them could not sustain drives and the offense just died if it got to the red zone.

Other quick takeaways, Kwitty Paye got his first NFL sack and the defensive line looked good with some real depth, so there will be plenty of guys to rotate through out the games and season. They WR depth is looking good, there will definitely be a battle for the last few spots, and special teams roles, which is a lot better than I thought. It is good to have that type of position battle, hopefully whoever gets cut we can grab, and bring back in the practice squad in case of some injuries later on in the season. Defense is looking solid, the big question that remains is who will the 3rd CB be and no one flashed during this game. That kinda wraps up my thoughts and takeaways for the game. Although it is preseason, you can only get so much evaluation of players, due to the talent they are playing against. A quick run down of other Colt’s news for the week started off the with some great news as Wentz and big Q both came back to practice, so that was good news on that front. The better news is that not only was Wentz back, but he had good movement, and was doing some 7 on 7 drills. I think everyone is pleasantly surprised by this. There was some news coming out of camp about him showing some rust, which is to be expected after being out of practice for the length he was. I had all expectations of Big Q being out there as I think he would play through just about anything. Another bright spot on people back to practice was Ryan Kelly was back, as the o line has been having issues all preseason and camp. Eric Fisher was back as well which is looking good for a sooner than later return. With that good news later in the week came some not so good news, on Thursday as both Fisher and Big Q were put on the COVID protocol list. I wonder how much it will hinder their rehab and recovery process. At the beginning of the week I had a feeling Big Q with 90% chance of starting week one. I had a feeling Fisher was going to be back by week 2 or 3 with a 90% chance. Now I think both are now more of a question mark to hit those time lines. I originally thought Wentz was a 50/50 to start week 1 but with him starting 7 on 7 and running some first team drills, that indicates he is prepping for week 1 as typically you start your game one prepping about 3 weeks out. If Eason or Ehlinger were starting they would be taking the majority of the snaps, there is still a chance that one of the will start but it seams less likely. To wrap up I know it is preseason and training camp, but there is a lot of positive when it comes to how the defense is looking. I get the feeling if Wentz is good, he doesn’t have to be 2017 form, but this offense is going to give many teams in the NFL a good run. Most things are pointing on the Colt’s going back to the playoffs possibly winning the AFC south. Much of this will come down to how the first 5 games of the season go, I am not saying the rest of the schedule should be taken lightly, but the first 5 games are a punch in the mouth right out of the gate.

To wrap it up, I was going to write some takeaways on the Friday preseason game, but when both coaches decided they were not going to start or play many of their starters, I didn’t feel that I would get a lot of great takeaways. I will still watch it, but many of the guys playing in that game are fighting for their NFL careers. They are either as a spot on the 53 man roster for the Colt’s, or another NFL team. They are fighting to make practice squad or it could be their last NFL for a while. In general there is plenty of bright spots on the news in Colt’s land this week, so till next time #ForThShoe

Edited: The NFL god’s decided I shouldn’t watch the game in a timely manner either. Storms rolling though the east side of Indianapolis knocked out the power grid here during the first quarter and who knows how long it will be till it is back up. So I will have to watch it off the DVR.