Colts Sign DHB

[TheImmortalGoud]

Rotoworld

Colts agreed to terms with WR Darrius Heyward-Bey, formerly of the Raiders, on a one-year contract.

Heyward-Bey, 26, caught 41 passes for 606 yards and five touchdowns with Oakland last season. The former No. 7 overall pick will slide into the receiver spot vacated by Donnie Avery. Although Avery started 15 games for the Colts last season, we'd expect DHB to work in as a deep threat behind Reggie Wayne and second-year burner T.Y. Hilton. Heyward-Bey has averaged 14.8 YPC in his four seasons, compared to Avery's 12.8 career YPC. USA Today's Mike Garafolo reports the deal is worth up to $3 million and contains $1.5 million guaranteed.

 

[ThunderHorse]

Darrius Heyward-Bey.. 1 year, 3 million.

How do you feel about it?

DHB is bigger in both height and weight than Donnie Avery, and I think this means Hilton is going to move to the slot as his main position. Last year him and Avery were switching positions a lot and when one of them was hurt Brazil would jump in there.

I'm really curious what the offense will look like next year. Since Arians is gone, his Verticle offense will probably go with him. I'm wondering how Hamilton is going to effectively use Wayne/Hilton/DHB as well as Allen/Fleener, especially when there's been rumors that Indianapolis is going to look to have Fleener playing in the slot more often. In addition to all of that, how committed is Indianapolis really going to be when it comes to their run game?

I can't wait for the draft and I have a feeling that Indy could look for a runningback in the middle rounds. I don't think Donald Brown will be on the roster after this year and the writing has been on the wall for Delone Carter if he doesn't start making some noise. I think it will be interesting to see if Taylor out of Stanford gets any looks as well as if Indy will look to a kid like Lattimore later in the draft and take a chance. I don't think Ballard is a workhorse that can carry the rushing offense by himself, but is better when he's splitting time.

 

[Influence]

He is definitely an upgrade. I am looking forward to seeing how he pans out. Money wise, this is a great deal and he'll be playing for a bigger contract next year. I think this may be one of the better signing from this off-season.. It could really be hit or miss, but he should play a lot better in our system. The Colts have great team chemistry, and a healthy locker room.

I like it.

 

[Influence]

Another great think about this signing is that we've completely filled our holes, which opens up our draft.

 

[Rudi]

So this is the big guy Irsay was stroking his cock about? :lol:

 

[EmpireWF]

Is he still fast?





:yao:

 

[killgod]

So this is the big guy Irsay was stroking his cock about? :lol:

I'm guessing no. I think his original plan fell through and this was the best they could do to save some face.

 

[Tailback U]

I'm pretty sure they wanted Bowe.

I expect DHB to put up decent numbers. Nothing crazy because Luck spreads the ball around pretty well when he's not forcing it to Wayne every other play, but DHB really isn't that bad as a #2. He can make plays.

 

[Raidersabc123]

This is a great signing for the Colts! I still think DHB can be a #1 in the future he does still have a tough time with his hands a bit, but he would get better every season and he doesnt lack toughness hes one of the guys whos the first to workout and last to leave

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Great signing for a vertical passing offense, I see him having a huge year with Luck throwing him the ball. DHB should be a huge sleeper entering the year for those playing fantasy football as well.

 

[Aso]

While Pep Hamilton is a west coast guy he has said he wants to keep as much of what Arians did as possible for the development of these younger players. I see no reason why Hilton wouldn't start next to Wayne. I wouldn't want DHB to be my starter.

Edit: Some of you overestimate how good DHB is. Hue Jackson made that offense look incredible when he was there...

 

[Nico]

i think dhb really developed in the last years. for sure he was drafted way too high but dhb has a great attitude and work ethic. he will be very solid for detroit.

 

[Influence]

While Pep Hamilton is a west coast guy he has said he wants to keep as much of what Arians did as possible for the development of these younger players. I see no reason why Hilton wouldn't start next to Wayne. I wouldn't want DHB to be my starter.

Edit: Some of you overestimate how good DHB is. Hue Jackson made that offense look incredible when he was there...

Hilton will play in the slot because he's a better fit for the slot

 

[Aso]

Hilton will play in the slot because he's a better fit for the slot

I'm not doubting he will. Last season Reggie Wayne played the majority of slot snaps with Hilton clearly behind him. But Hilton is a burner as well and he is a good young player with upside. You know what DHB is and he doesn't have any more upside. You know what he is and all that is is a deep threat.

People make him out to be something special when he's not. He had a career season under Hue Jackson but pretty much the entire offense had career seasons under him. There is a reason the Colts signed him to a one year contract and Hilton is clearly better than DHB. Maybe they will split a lot of time starting but I would keep DHB as a strict deep threat in 3 receiver sets if it were me.

You can obviously tell I'm not fond of him.

 

[Influence]

I haven't watched the guy play, but I'm hoping this 1 year deal motivates him enough to put up some numbers.

I agree about Hilton. He was a great pickup last year, and I hope he stays in the organization for a while. As long as the Luck situation pans out over the next decade he might even be able to work up to the caliber of play that Reggie Wayne puts out. Reggie Wayne had all that time developing behind Marvin Harrison, and who knows, he could be our future guy at the #1 spot.

 

[ThunderHorse]

I haven't watched the guy play, but I'm hoping this 1 year deal motivates him enough to put up some numbers.

I agree about Hilton. He was a great pickup last year, and I hope he stays in the organization for a while. As long as the Luck situation pans out over the next decade he might even be able to work up to the caliber of play that Reggie Wayne puts out. Reggie Wayne had all that time developing behind Marvin Harrison, and who knows, he could be our future guy at the #1 spot.

Hilton isn't big enough to ever be able to play that position. He's a tiny quick twitch athlete with very little muscle. He's not going to be a a guy who can go up and fight for the football (Wayne is good at that and it's impressive considering Wayne is not an exceptionally big receiver), and in this power run scheme that I hope they're trying to put into place I don't see Hilton being the guy on the outside who can block the way he needs too. Part of the reason Reggie Wayne played in the slot so much last year was the fact that Arians likes to move that receiver around a lot and use him for blocking. Reggie has been an outstanding blocker for most of his career and he fit this "Hines Ward" role perfectly.

Now what Aso is saying is a little different than what I've been reading on other forums. The feeling on some Colt boards is that the jury is still out on DHB but they don't think he's really a deep threat receiver. Their reasoning is that DHB is a possession guy who will move the sticks that will get his yards after the catch, but he doesn't have the skills in his route running to get space on defenders for deep throws.

Whatever type of WR he may be, with his physical abilities it seems to me that Indy is looking for another Pierre Garcon or an explosive WR that can make his own plays and isn't a walking toothpick like Hilton.

 

[Influence]

Whatever type of WR he may be, with his physical abilities it seems to me that Indy is looking for another Pierre Garcon or an explosive WR that can make his own plays and isn't a walking toothpick like Hilton.

Reminds me of Marvin Harrison, although he was on an entirely different level. Harrison was listed at on 185 pounds when he played. T.Y. Hilton is listed at 183 pounds, and he's only listed at 5'9". Harrison was listed at 6'. So we could assume that Marvin Harrison was even more of a toothpick than Hilton
:kanye:

 

[ThunderHorse]

Reminds me of Marvin Harrison, although he was on an entirely different level. Harrison was listed at on 185 pounds when he played. T.Y. Hilton is listed at 183 pounds, and he's only listed at 5'9". Harrison was listed at 6'. So we could assume that Marvin Harrison was even more of a toothpick than Hilton
:kanye:

Marvin is a HOF player though. He never made his bread on jump balls either he made it other ways.

Marvin also had an undeniable edge, he may have been small but that was a tightly wound angry little dude.

 

[Influence]

I miss that Colts era..

I know Marvin Harrison was on a different talent level all together, I was just trowing that out there about his size. It really just comes down to route running, hands, and QB chemistry for any receiver to succeed in this league. It just takes a drive and some motivation to improve in those areas.

I'm a little biased though. I love T.Y. Hilton, and I just want to watch him succeed.. him and Dwayne Allen. My favorite 2 rookies from last year, behind Andrew Luck.

 

[JBregz]

T.Y Hilton will play slot, no way they'll have a 5'9 receiver playing outside. DHB will Likely play outside along with Wayne and will be used to stretch the secondary downfield allowing T.Y and Wayne more room to roam through the middle.