Wide Receivers Coming in from all Angles - Keary Colbert

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 1:05 PM PDT Comment 65 comments

Seattle has swapped a late-round draft pick for Broncos wide receiver Keary Colbert, FOXSports.com has learned.

The Seahawks — who had the 17th best pass offense in the league a year ago — have suffered greatly this year with the losses of receivers Nate Burleson, Bobby Engram and Deion Branch to injuries.

Wow. Holmgren wasn't kidding about getting some WR in here. Personally I love this move. Colbert coming out of college was a very good route runner with great hands. What he lacked was size and speed. He fell off the earth because he was relied on as a number 2 when he shouldn't of ever been. He is a good fit for the WCO.

Update by John Morgan: In 2004, Colbert was drafted in the second round by the Carolina Panthers. He wasn't fast, running a 4.6 40, or tall, coming in a shade under 6'1", but he was supremely productive at a top program: USC. That 4.6 40 might be a bit deceptive, Colbert was a sure thing draft pick who barely participated in the combine and possibly didn't prepare either. Since then, Colbert has earned a reputation as a laggard. Perhaps he's just happy to have scored big and looks forward to the offseason. In football, that does happen.

Despite his low completion rate over four season, never topping 50%, he was known at USC for his hands. You heard that right. He was a four year starter and owns USC's all time receptions record. The patina of potential is why Seattle had to trade as much as a 5th round pick, but that patina might be only residue. I don't really know. His record certainly explains Tim Ruskell's interest, but without tape on the guy I don't feel confident judging this trade.

A place to bury strangers.

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Well.....

Colbert is better than you think, but he is injury prone and was on IR last season.

When Steve Smith shredded his knee he had 47 catches and 5 TDs, and had 25 more the next season as a role player. But as I said, inactive for 1 1/2 seasons.

We’ll see, but this is a good trade. Low risk, but if Colbert is going to be a starter, he better shake the rust off.

Brian Russell is worse than you.

by SSreporters on Sep 16, 2008 1:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

What?

Even before I edited my fanpost I don’t know where I said this was a bad move.

You may gain some yards on the ground, but eventually Lofa will end up biting you in the ass.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 1:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I never said you.......sorry, it was directed at the general public.

I wish I could edit comments.

Brian Russell is worse than you.

by SSreporters on Sep 16, 2008 1:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You can. Before you hit post.

While it’s proactive to think ahead

by John Morgan on Sep 16, 2008 1:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

;-)

I love this move, we’re getting depth at the WR position now…..again.

What would’ve been an absolute steal was if we were able to trade Brian Russell for Colbert.

Brian Russell is worse than you.

by SSreporters on Sep 16, 2008 1:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gotcha

You may gain some yards on the ground, but eventually Lofa will end up biting you in the ass.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 1:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm psyched

I think our offense is kind of like Philly’s. McNabb and Hasselbeck are both talented enough, and Reid and Holmgren’s system is good enough, that if you have a bunch of good, but not great WR, the passing offense will thrive. Unfortunately for Matt, he doesn’t have anyone but Carlson right now. Now with Colbert (and hopefully KoRo), he should be good to go, at least until Branch and Engram come back.

by LantermanC on Sep 16, 2008 1:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Well Taylor is on thin ice now.

Thats for sure

You may gain some yards on the ground, but eventually Lofa will end up biting you in the ass.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 1:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

So much for Payne's injury giving him job security.

by BrianL on Sep 16, 2008 1:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

check your email.

XBOX live gamertag: BANE509...I would die tonight for my beliefs.

by Christian on Sep 16, 2008 1:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't think Taylor is done

Payne going on IR opens the door for Koren. I doubt they’d keep McMullen over Taylor.

Branch and Engram are on the active roster, so it won’t affect Taylor when they come back.

by MFAN on Sep 16, 2008 1:34 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

McMullen p*ssed me off the most on Sunday, offensively

He fumbled away what could’ve been at least 3 points after Wilson’s good kick return. Dropped another pass, just a possession receiver, etc.

I can’t fault him on the interception because if I remember correctly, no one was to the right of McMullen, and Hass I think should’ve thrown it slightly behind him and to the other shoulder, instead of the direction of the 49ers player behind him.

Brian Russell is worse than you.

by SSreporters on Sep 16, 2008 1:37 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If only they'd PUPed Branch.

He’s not going to be back until Week 5 anyway (and in what kind of shape, I dunno). Hindsight and all that, but yeah, that would at least let them keep McMullen (or someone else) for a couple games…

by Strang on Sep 16, 2008 1:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree that Branch should have been PUPed

but I also think that there is some value in having him practice with the team (which he couldn’t have done if he were PUPed) just to get his legs under him and get back in game shape and in tune with the system.

He should have been PUPed though.

by PascoJoe on Sep 16, 2008 1:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Great, low-risk medium-reward type of a move.

Colbert (provided he’s not insanely rusty) is better at this role than many NFL starters, and should look great in this offense.
It’ll be interesting to see how often he’s targeted….

by marc w on Sep 16, 2008 1:42 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm surprised this is getting such a positive spin

They traded a draft pick for a below average player. This is Alvin Pearman part 2. McMullen played decent on Sunday when he wasn’t expected to see the field, and Koren is in town and hopefully signed (I haven’t seen anything official on that yet). I don’t know where Colbert fits, he’s not going to have a lot of practice time going into the St Louis game, and then hopefully Branch and Engram will be back after the bye. I don’t understand why we would sell on young talent like Bumpus and Taylor, and give up a draft pick, for a player thats mostly burned out in the league.

This was said before by a commenter around here, but someone seriously needs to go through Ruskell’s office and find where he’s hiding Bill Bavasi.

by Nate Dogg on Sep 16, 2008 1:45 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Depth is a terrible thing to have on a roster.

by BrianL on Sep 16, 2008 1:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

At what cost though?

Koren Robinson was freely available, Samie Parker was good enough to get signed for a week. Eric Parker, Eric Moulds, and Joe Horn are freely available. The offense as it is scored 23 points against the 9ners, and we’re going to play inferior competition this coming week. Why trade a draft pick for a reciever who’s going to have a week of practice time to play against a worse team and then be buried on the roster by Branch and Engram?

by Nate Dogg on Sep 16, 2008 1:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Because he isn't a stop gag.

You may gain some yards on the ground, but eventually Lofa will end up biting you in the ass.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 2:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

A late round draft pick.

It wasn’t NO cost, but it’s not at all like the Branch situation either.

This signing isn’t a one-week, we need a guy for this week only deal. IF he’s healthy, he’s going to be a decent slot receiver with hands, and that’s just not something we have right now.

by marc w on Sep 16, 2008 2:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He's good insurance in case Engram can't stay healthy.

Depth = good, and it doesn’t appear that we parted with much to get that depth.

by BrianL on Sep 16, 2008 2:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

But even WITH Engram, he's still potentially useful.

by marc w on Sep 16, 2008 3:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Denver's offense has West Coast roots

So picking it up isn’t going to be much of a issue. He wasn’t used properly in the downfield attack that the panthers love. He also suffered from having Jake “All I can see is Steve Smith” Delhomme. Colbert is a lot like Engram and if used in the slot could be a valuable piece in the offense long term.

McMullen showed last weekend why he isn’t anything more than a stop gag. He has zero speed and can’t be relied on to get open consistently.

You may gain some yards on the ground, but eventually Lofa will end up biting you in the ass.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 1:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh and Koren is official

You may gain some yards on the ground, but eventually Lofa will end up biting you in the ass.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 1:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Awesome

by Nate Dogg on Sep 16, 2008 1:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, this is exactly like Bill Bavasi.

by Matthew on Sep 16, 2008 1:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

This is exactly like Bill Bavasi

like when he signed Jeff Weaver, Brad Wilkerson, and Jose Guillen to cheap one year deals (which were low risk/high reward types), but this is in no way like Bill Bavasi’s bad moves like signing Silva, Washburn, and Batista to long term deals. A comparative move by Ruskell would be to give Joe Horn a four year multi-million dollar deal. His signings of end of roster players who at least once had good potential are not bad-Bavasi-type deals.

by PascoJoe on Sep 16, 2008 1:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We would have traded for Horn.

XBOX live gamertag: BANE509...I would die tonight for my beliefs.

by Christian on Sep 16, 2008 2:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also we can't rely

on Engram or Branch to stay healthy the rest of the season when they do come back.

You may gain some yards on the ground, but eventually Lofa will end up biting you in the ass.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 1:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's a big part that a lot of people aren't talking about

John wrote a ton about how the Engram injury was predictable given his age and everything, plus Branch coming back insanely fast from a bad knee injury… it’s not like those two are coming back at full speed.

by Strang on Sep 16, 2008 1:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Has Branch's recovery really been that fast?

I know there was talk of him playing week 1, but that never happened. My problem isn’t with getting more recievers, it’s the reciever we got and how we got him. A 5th, maybe a 4th, round pick for Keary Colbert doesn’t sound like good value.

by Nate Dogg on Sep 16, 2008 2:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Its a 6th or 7th round pick

Wouldn’t be more than that. Branch is 7 months removed from a ACL tear. A injury that normally takes 8-12 months to heal.

You may gain some yards on the ground, but eventually Lofa will end up biting you in the ass.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 2:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sando is saying

it’s a 5th.

by Nate Dogg on Sep 16, 2008 2:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Then he is defiantly considered a long term solution

You may gain some yards on the ground, but eventually Lofa will end up biting you in the ass.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 2:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

From everything I'm reading

it sounds like he’s a cheap, young Bobby Engram. Sounds like a fairly good value to me.

by BrianL on Sep 16, 2008 2:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

What have you been reading?

Colbert makes more money than Engram does. PFP says:

The primary issue has been an ability to hold on to the ball; Colbert hasn’t managed a catch rate over 50% since that first season. He underperformed in 2005 and 2007, and basically fell off the face of the earth in 2006.

by Nate Dogg on Sep 16, 2008 2:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Your forgetting how much having Jake Delhomme hurt him

You may gain some yards on the ground, but eventually Lofa will end up biting you in the ass.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 2:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

According to Fox Sports

Colbert is making around 500k this season, while Engram is making 1.7 mil. No idea if this is accurate or not.

by BrianL on Sep 16, 2008 2:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Colbert signed a 3 year, 7.2m deal w/ Denver in the offseason

But that includes a 2.5m signing bonus that will be accelerated for Denver (someone correct me if I’m wrong on that).

So that’d be roughly 1.56m/yr for three years.

by Strang on Sep 16, 2008 2:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, I guess it could be broken down weird

but Colbert signed a 3 year, 7.2 million dollar deal. Rotoworld has Engram making 3.4 over 2 years.

by Nate Dogg on Sep 16, 2008 2:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Holy repetition batman!

I was the poor bastard that had Tom Brady on my Field Gulls fantasy football team.

by Chickadee on Sep 16, 2008 2:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If he comes back in Week 5...

That’s pretty fast for an ACL tear. He tore it in January, it’s only been 9 months. I mean, you have to take into account what he’ll have to do — the same type of cuts that tore the ligament in the first place, the same type of cuts that tore Burly’s ACL, the same type of thing that hurt Seneca’s calf. And those guys were all healthy at the time.

by Strang on Sep 16, 2008 2:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Trading a low pick is fine

Those are low percentage picks anyway.

by Gomez on Sep 16, 2008 3:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

But...but!

Tom Brady was a 6th round draft pick! Don’t you watch ESPN?

I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers

by Phildopip on Sep 16, 2008 5:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

But... but... some guy took the hardway bet in craps once and won!!11

by Gomez on Sep 17, 2008 4:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just a word of caution...

Colbert couldn’t see the field in Denver even with Marshall suspended. Your old friend Darrell Jackson and rookie Eddie Royal took his job when the Broncos made him their “big” off-season acquisition….There isn’t much difference between the offense Seattle runs and the one in Denver.

Good Luck to him, but I figured you should at least know….

-TSG

SBNation's Denver Broncos Blogger
MileHighReport

Questions, Comments...E-Mail Me!
milehighreport@gmail.com

by John Bena on Sep 16, 2008 2:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Yes but you have Eddie Royal, Brandon Marshall and D-Jack

We have McMuffin and friends

You may gain some yards on the ground, but eventually Lofa will end up biting you in the ass.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 2:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That needs to be a saturday morning cartoon

I was the poor bastard that had Tom Brady on my Field Gulls fantasy football team.

by Chickadee on Sep 16, 2008 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree...

But, since you know Jackson, who would you rather have??

I was pumped when the Broncos signed Kolbert. Shanny even went so far as to compare him to Ed McCaffrey, another player that struggled early in his career before becoming a solid option in the WCO. For some reason, once Kolbert got on the field, something happened…

I wish him, and the ’Hawks, nothing but success. I respect the hell out of Holmgren…

-TSG

SBNation's Denver Broncos Blogger
MileHighReport

Questions, Comments...E-Mail Me!
milehighreport@gmail.com

by John Bena on Sep 16, 2008 2:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think Holmgren's system can take advantage of Colbert better than Denver's.

And honestly, I think I’d rather have Colbert over Jackson. In my mind, D-Jack’s best years are behind him. There may be some upside in Colbert.

by BrianL on Sep 16, 2008 3:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

They both run a WCO

what are the differences in Holmgren’s scheme that would better utilize Colbert?

by Nate Dogg on Sep 16, 2008 3:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We have less Eddie Royal

You may gain some yards on the ground, but eventually Lofa will end up biting you in the ass.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2008 3:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

And far more Billy McMuffin.

by BrianL on Sep 16, 2008 3:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like this nickname.

I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers

by Phildopip on Sep 16, 2008 5:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Holmgren seems to take advantage of the slot a little more.

It’s also worth mentioning again that Matt Hasselbeck != Jake Delhomme.

by BrianL on Sep 16, 2008 3:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not really

D Jack hates catching the ball. I’ll never forgive him for his sloppy play during his last several games. It was like Moss in Oakland….it looked like he was dropping balls on purpose.

Dick Dastardly and Muttley with sick laughter

by Wayward Llama on Sep 17, 2008 8:38 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

11-5

by Woodinville_12thMan on Sep 16, 2008 2:32 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Roby?

Anyone know anything about Courtney Roby? I know the Colts cut him a few days ago, did they sign him to the practice squad?

by C_HAWK1 on Sep 16, 2008 2:34 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

You know what I like about Courtney Roby?

He’s FAST

And not much else. If the Hawks did want him though it wouldn’t matter if he was on their practice squad or not, they’d just have to put him on their 53.

by Nate Dogg on Sep 16, 2008 2:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Colbert is 26

Despite five years in the league, he’s pretty young.

They gave a fifth? Hrm. Gonna be hard to cut him next year. I really doubt Bobby will be back in 2009.

by djafrot on Sep 16, 2008 2:45 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'll miss Bobby

New WR coach?

I was the poor bastard that had Tom Brady on my Field Gulls fantasy football team.

by Chickadee on Sep 16, 2008 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

5th?

Farnsworth says its a conditional pick depending on playing time.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/football/379346_hawk17.html

by m_b on Sep 16, 2008 2:57 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Colbert, the best WR ever?

Colbert, 26, played his first four seasons with the Carolina Panthers before signing with the Broncos in free agency. His best season game in 2004, when he caught 47 passes for a 16-yard average and five touchdowns as a rookie.

What a game! Great find, Farnsworth!

I was the poor bastard that had Tom Brady on my Field Gulls fantasy football team.

by Chickadee on Sep 16, 2008 5:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs