SB Nation - Rufus Alexander

Friday Notes: Culpepper to Start; Lions Sign Alexander, Release Ervin

Sean Yuille — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:50:12 -0000

5 months ago: Detroit Lions quarterback Daunte Culpepper throws during football minicamp, Wednesday, June 24, 2009, in Allen Park, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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Daunte Culpepper will start for the Lions against Indianapolis tomorrow. Culpepper will play for all of the first quarter and half of the second. Matthew Stafford will come in after that and play until the end of the third quarter. (Drew Stanton will get to play in the fourth quarter.) The starters will be in the game for both Culpepper and Stafford, allowing the coaches to get a look at what each can do with the No. 1 offense.

Jim Schwartz cautioned to not read into this very much, as someone has to go out there first. He also made sure to mention that a starter probably won't be named until the week of the Saints game, and even then we probably won't hear who is getting the start until right before the game. That way the Saints have to spend time preparing for both quarterbacks.
The Lions signed linebacker Rufus Alexander and released running back Allen Ervin on Thursday. Alexander has previously played for the Vikings and Colts. Ervin had played quite well in the first preseason game before suffering an injury the next week in practice. He was not going to play on Saturday, and the Lions probably figured he wasn't going to make the team, so it's best to move on and give someone else a chance.
Starting cornerbacks Phillip Buchanon and Anthony Henry both will not play against the Colts. Keith Smith will play in his first preseason game, but I think Peyton Manning is going to have a field day with our secondary. He very well may have anyways, but with the starters out this probably will get ugly really quickly.
Dennis Northcutt has also been ruled out of tomorrow's game.
Kevin Smith and Ernie Sims are going to be game-time decisions tomorrow.
Brandon Pettigrew is going to play against Indianapolis.
Daniel Loper and Manny Ramirez are battling it out for the starting spot at left guard.
People were actually lined up at Ford Field's box office to buy Lions tickets when they went on sale Thursday morning.
With all of this talk about backup kickers lately, Jim Schwartz decided to show the team a clip of when offensive line coach George Yarno kicked an extra point back when he played for the Buccaneers. He was actually the long snapper, but when the starting kicker got hurt, Yarno ended up coming in as the emergency backup and did quite well.

(More after the jump)

The Vikings' locker room reportedly is already divided on Brett Favre.
Roy Williams hurt his shoulder last night during a Cowboys practice and will likely miss the rest of the preseason. There was a report from PFT that he broke his collarbone, but his X-rays came back negative.
The Broncos have suspended Brandon Marshall.
The Cowboys are not going to have to raise their giant scoreboard, as the NFL has simply created a do over rule, meaning that if a punt hits the scoreboard, the play will just be done again. I realize it would cost $2 million to raise the scoreboard, but this rule is just stupid. The Cowboys have spent over a billion dollars on the stadium already, so what's another $2 million? Besides, they are the ones responsible for not testing this out in the first place, so they should be responsible for fixing the problem. This rule will just cause problems, and I can't wait to see the outcry the first time a do over punt is blocked.

Colts essentially cut WR Roy Hall, sign several new players

BigBlueShoe — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:58:58 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Roy Hall makes a catch during the NFL football team's minicamp in Indianapolis, Friday, June 5, 2009. Hall was placed on the injured-waived list today. His career in Indy is likely over. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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As the discussion in the FanPost comments suggests, this move was a bit of a surprise for some folks. Roy Hall, a prospect at WR since the Colts drafted him in 2007, has been placed on the injured-waved list. This means that Roy can sign with another team. If he can't sign, he's then placed on the Injured Reserve (IR) list. Either way, his career with the Colts is over. This is now the third straight year Hall's season with the Colts was cut short because of injury. Hell, we still don't even know what his current injury is.

Roy developed as a player, but could never stay healthy to showcase any talent on the field. We wish him the best and hope he can get healthy enough to make a difference in this league. Also released was OG Tom Pestock.

After the roster spots for Hall and Pestock were cleared, the Colts re-activated Samuel Giguere from the PUP list and signed two additional players: Walter Mendenhall (a rookie out of Illinois State and older brother of Steelers back Rashard Mendenhall) and Rudolph Hardie, a DE drafted two years ago from Howard University.

You might remember Rudolph Hardie from our draft profile of him in 2008. We thought the Colts would draft or potentially sign Hardie because he seemed to fit the kind of player the Colts love. We wrote:

Despite these weakness, there is a reason Hardie keeps popping up on people's sleeper draft pick lists: He has the tools to become a very good pass rusher, and team looking for DE depth could find a gem in Hardie. Look for a Cover-2 style team, such as the Colts, Vikes, or Bucs, to draft Hardie.

It's always kind of cool to see a player you thought the team would be interested in eventually sign. We saw the Colts do this with Buster Davis and Rufus Alexander recently. We stated (waaaaay back in the day) that Alexander and Davis were good fits for the Colts. Hopefully, Hardie will find a way to stick around on the Colts roster, unlike Davis and Alexander.

Like Hardie in 2008, Walter Mendenhall is viewed by some as a possible "sleeper" player that went undrafted because he played at a small school:

Older brother to Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashad Mendenhall, the Illinois State product is just as big and strong carrying the ball. His game film is outstanding as Walter shows power on the inside, speed in the open field and the ability to slip tackles then create yardage.

Mike Hart has been ruled out for tomorrow night's pre-season game against the Vikings. with Joseph Addai likely not to see much action, and with Donald Brown being a high priced rookie, signing Mendenhall feels more like a "warm body" roster move. However, as we have seen in the past, if you show you can play, the Colts will keep you.

Colts trim roster down: Cut P Mike Dragosavich and LB Rufus Alexander

BigBlueShoe — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:54:20 -0000

This morning, the Colts had 87 players on their roster. They can only go to Training Camp with 80. So, between now and August 2 (the start of Training Camp), the Colts will need to trim down. today, they parted ways with punter Mike Dragosavich and LB Rufus Alexander.

Cutting Dragosavich essentially hands the starting punting job to rookie Pat McAfee. The Colts also have Tim Masthay on the roster, but let's face it. Unless McAfee truly stinks it up at camp, Tim Masthay is pretty much roster filler.

Rufus Alexander is a player we at Stampede Blue have kept an eye on for years now. But, with Freddy Keiaho and Tyjuan Hagler re-signed, it's unlikely he would ever play.

Colts signaling change in linebacker philosophy by waiving Buster Davis?

BigBlueShoe — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:58:17 -0000

We've talked about Buster Davis at Stampede Blue going on two years. We hoped Indy would draft him in 2006, and when the scoped him up via waivers last pre-season, folks like me were ecstatic. Unfortunately, Buster didn't play well when he was handed the starting MLBer spot when Gary Brackett went down in the last few weeks of the 2008 season. He played even worse in the playoffs against San Diego. With Indy signing Adam Seward, keeping Buster didn't make much sense. Thus, he was waived (tip to GoHorse88).

With Buster Davis and Freddie Keiaho gone, the Colts no longer have the kind of depth they once had at LBer. Indeed, instead of smaller, quicker LBers with punch, the Colts have shifted to bigger, taller backers. They drafted Philip Wheeler (6'2, 245 pounds) last season and signed Adam Seward (6'2, 248 pounds) as a free agent. Add to this current Colts LBer Rufus Alexander (6'1, 232 pounds) and it seems the team is transitions from the "smaller, faster" guys Dungy liked to taller, heavier players.

Why are they doing this?

One possibility is the change in defensive coordinator. Former DC Ron Meeks rarely blitzed, and the result was a very strong pass rush and a dominant pass defense. Last year, they set an NFL record with fewest passing TDs allowed. But, with the league changing and adapting to various defenses, generating pass rush from the LBers is not a bad idea, even for a Tampa-2 team. Chicago does it, and their defense is very good. New Colts DC Larry Coyer used several blitz schemes in Denver (mainly because his d-line was crap), and while he will not blitz as much in Indy, having big backers like Wheeler will make it tempting.

The other possibility is a change in focus to stopping the run. If the Colts are focusing more on acquiring bigger LBers, the drawback to "bigger" is usually sacrificing pass coverage. Smaller, quicker LBers usually excel at pass coverage. The sacrifice in speed and "pop" would be counter-balanced by size and strength.

Regardless of the reasons, the fact is Indy is much "bigger" at LB in 2009 than they were in 2008. This doesn't mean they are shifting their entire focus away from smaller backers. Gary Brackett (5'11, 235 pounds) and Clint Session (6', 235 pounds) are still considered "small" as far as LBers go. And both are starters.

Interesting note on new Colts LBer Rufus Alexander

BigBlueShoe — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:44:51 -0000

Rufus Alexander was signed today, and Rufus is a player we at Stampede Blue know some things about. In 2007, just prior to the draft, Rufus was a player the Colts (and us bloggers) had an eye on. In my mock draft that year, I had Indy taking Rufus in Round 4. Here is what I wrote about Rufus back in April 2007:

Rufus Alexander is a versatile LBer tat can play SAM and WILL. He's fast and covers well. He also seems to never get hurt.

Rufus went undrafted was drafted by the Vikings in 2007, and he has spent two years on their practice squad. Rufus is a big backer at 6'1, 232 pounds, but he is good in Cover 2.

Though signing Rufus is a good move, this does not bode well for Gary Brackett. More news as we get it.

UPDATE: Back in February 2007, Rufus stated he wanted to be drafted by the Colts. Almost two years later, he signs with them. From the article, printed prior to the NFL Combine:

“I’ve got a great motor, great instincts. I play with a lot of emotion and enthusiasm. I’m just a competitor.”

Rufus Alexander at Oklahoma