Published: October 11, 2008 10:37 pm            

Colts search for answers at defensive tackle spot

INDIANAPOLIS — Stopping the run, which has been a major problem in the past, is once again dogging the Colts. And the pass rush has not been as effective the last couple of seasons.

Where does the fault lie? The situation really starts up front with the defensive tackles. While Indianapolis seems to be well stocked in smaller, quicker tackles — players like Keyunta Dawson, Eric Foster, Darrell Reid — it’s been the lack of any big, athletic ”anchor” tackles that has turned out to be the Colts’ defensive Achilles’ heel.

Gone is Ed Johnson, a second-year tackle from Penn State who was waived from the team after his arrest last month for possession of marijuana and speeding. Also absent is former 2007 draft pick Quinn Pitcock, who unexpectedly retired at the beginning of training camp.

But the losses this year of Johnson — who had been an undrafted free agent coming out of college — and Pitcock are just the tips of the iceberg. There’s more to the story. A lot more. Over the past four years, the Colts’ “big” defensive tackle position has been a revolving door.

Indianapolis picked up Corey Simonas a free agent from the Philadelphia Eagles at the start of the 2005 season. After a protracted series of contract negotiations with the Eagles yielded nothing, the former Florida State standout inked a five-year, $30 million deal with the Colts.

But Simon’s career in Indianapolis ended before the 2006 training camp when a knee injury and an an illness, polyarthritis, led to his release from the Colts. He did attempt a later comeback with the Tennessee Titans, but the malady forced an early end to his NFL career.

Then there was the Oct. 17, 2006, trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that brought defensive tackle Anthony “Booger” McFarland on board, with that acquisition panning into the Super XLI win against the Chicago Bears.

Medical problems, though, ended McFarland’s brief stay with the team. He suffered a knee injury in training camp prior to the 2007 season, which then opened the door for Johnson’s move into the starting lineup. McFarland was eventually released at the end of that year.

Indianapolis had selected Pitcock in the third round of the 2007 draft with the idea that the ex-Ohio State lineman might be become McFarland’s eventual long-term replacement. Injuries and Johnson’s quick development slowed his progress. But by the end of last season, the general feeling was that Pitcock had a chance to become a productive player in the NFL.

His decision to retire caught a lot of people by surprise. Reports emerged later that suggested Pitcock’s desire to play had waned considerably since the end of his collegiate career.

That brings the situation back full circle. In the past few weeks, Indianapolis has attempted to rectify the situation by adding former Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle LaJuan Ramsey and ex-Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Daniel Muir. And while neither possess the bulk of a Simon or McFarland, they are being counted on to fill the void for now.

“It’s changed. We’ve got young guys in there that are working hard. We don’t have those overly big guys. We had two 300-pounders that aren’t here now. And so we have missed that,” Colts coach Tony Dungy said recently. “In the last couple of years, with Anthony getting hurt, Ed Johnson and Quinn [Pitcock], we’ve lost three really good players. But other people have to step up.

“[Undrafted rookie] Eric Foster’s doing a good job … Keyunta [Dawson], and we’re getting our new guys, LaJuan and Dan, acclimated [to the Indianapolis defensive system]. And everybody’s got different strengths. But it really still comes down to being able to just play with quickness and aggressiveness and playing your gap and you’re going to be fine.”

And it’s not just in the run defense where the lack of an anchor tackle is so obvious. The pass rush is also effected since the middle of the defensive line hasn’t been able to push the [pass protection] pocket back, giving opposing quarterbacks more time to look downfield as well as the ability to step up and make a play.

“Yeah, and the [substitution] rotation too,” Dungy explained. “We’re using different guys in there. It’s forced us to use [defensive end] Raheem [Brock] and [defensive end] Josh Thomas even in there some. You’re better off when you have eight, nine guys that you can play in there. So we’ve lost a little bit of our depth, but it’s going to start to come back.”

Team president Bill Polian is also counting on Ramsey and Muir — the 6-foot-2, 312-pound second-year man out of Kent State has been battling a sore knee since coming to the Colts — to step in and make plays when given the opportunity.

“I think both will be helpful to us in terms of taking reps, being able to stand in there and slug when we get in the kinds of games that we got in against Jacksonville and certainly will be very helpful once they get their feet on the ground and know exactly how we execute stunts, how we play certain blocking schemes; when they get that, and they’re making fast progress on it, they’ll be contributors, so it just takes a little while,” Polian said on his weekly radio show.

“I used the example that when “Booger” came to us, it took about six weeks even though he was playing the exact same defense in Tampa just for him to feel comfortable with the people he was playing with and the little idiosyncrasies of the way we play. The same is true with them. They’re going to get better.”

Muir was groomed in the Mid-American Conference, and Ramsey has some experience in the Colts’ defensive scheme, having played in a similar system in college at Southern California,

“We claimed [Muir] on waivers at the [final roster] cut to 53 … he’s pretty athletic despite that [312-pound] size. LaJuan Ramsey was with the San Francisco 49ers, and we signed him as a free agent during the second week of the season because of Ed Johnson’s dismissal. As a result, he only has been with us a couple of weeks. He did play the defense at USC and he is somewhat conversant with it, so it’s a matter of getting used to specifics of our defense — terminology, that kind of thing. He’s 6-feet-2 and about 310. Both fellows could stand to lose 10 or 15 pounds and they will do that over the course of time in our system, because of the way we practice,” Polian said.

“Our problem this year is we do not have two Pro Bowl caliber defensive tackles playing for us. That’s through no fault of our own. We had two, Quinn Pitcock and Ed Johnson — Quinn, a third-round draft choice, and Ed a collegiate free agent — who played very well for us last year and, of course, we were ranked second in the league in defense last year. We don’t have either of those men there now through no fault of our own. It’s one of those situations where we’re going to have to try to upgrade that position either through making the players we have here better or trying in the offseason probably to acquire better players, although I’m certainly not finished acquiring good players if any are available.”

Polian is not going to sign just anybody.

“The problem with free agency is this: No. 1, in our defense you have to find the right fit, which is an athletic big man — a guy who’s 300 pounds who can run and change direction and those fellows rarely, rarely become free agents,” he said. “Secondly, you want to get the kind of player who fits in your system in terms of how he comports himself on and off the field, his professionality in the building, his professionality in practice …

“In my opinion, except for a select few players, free agency is a fool’s errand and I think that’s pretty much been proven. You overpay for really what amounts to average or below-average performance. We don’t believe in it. I know there are people who do. More power to them, but we don’t think there’s a good economic value in free agency,” he explained.

It’s possible the Colts could make the position a high priority in next year’s draft. The solution

“Big isn’t necessarily the answer. Good is the answer. Big guys who can rush the passer are very rare and I can assure you they’re not out in the street. They’re playing for other teams, so we have to figure out a way to — if we think in the end that’s the right thing to do — do that in the offseason. I don’t think there will be anything out there in the street that’s going to be beneficial for us,” Polian said.

“We think the two fellows we have now were absolutely the best we could find at the cut to 53. We’ll continue to scan the waiver wire. If somebody comes along, believe me, we’ll jump on it, but it’s foolish to think that size alone has anything to do with it. It’s not just size alone. It’s athletic ability and skill to go along with the size.”

        

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