ESPN's Adam Schefter (not Adarn Schefter, we checked) is reporting that the Indianapolis Colts are attempting to acquire Dallas CB Mike Jenkins. Jenkins, a 2008 1st-round draft pick by the Cowboys, reportedly became available after Dallas traded up to draft LSU CB Morris Claiborne.

Check back with Colts Authority for updates as the story develops, and fir analysis on the trade, should it go down.

UPDATE:

NFL.com's Ian Rapoport is reporting that the asking price for Jenkins is high, saying the Cowboys have no interest in "giving him away for cheap."  He later tweets that the Cowboys have no interest in trading Jenkins.

As we've beat into our own and others' skulls for the last eight months, the Colts were really bad in 2011. Pat Angerer wasn't. 

Throughout the season, Angerer was a fan favorite on defense, due to his propensity to get to the ball carrier, his sweet name, and the Colts' lack of playmakers on defense. Angerer is a good, budding player, but he was frequently overrated by Colts' fans. While he's been overrated, it seems that his potential in the new 3-4 system is sometimes underrated. 

So, in order to predict how Angerer may fit in this new system, let's take a look at how he performed in the last one, during his sophomore season in 2011. 

Do you want your son or daughter get football tips from Dwight Freeney?

Of course you do.

They can get their chance in a little under two weeks.

Freeney is hosting his football camp in Carmel from June 6-7. The normal registration fee is $199 but Friday you can get a special discount of more than 50% off. The first 93 people to sign up at noon on Friday can register for just $93.

Kids will get to interact with Freeney, get a t-shirt, and get an autographed camp-team photo. There will be plenty of instruction, contests, and fun. Each day Freeney will address the campers, and parents and guests will get the chance to listen in.

The camp is open to boys and girls from 7 to 14 years old and runs from 9 AM to 12:30 PM.

Earlier this week I laid out some rational ideas about what Colts fans should expect for this season based on historical teams in similar situations including the 1998 and 1999 Colts, as well as some stasticial measures. Statistics, history and rationality are not always fun however, so let's approach this in a different manner. In fact, let's do this exercise without looking at any statistics, game information or any other item that has a basis in this "reality" thing with which everyone seems so enamored.

In 2011 the Colts were horrible. We can all agree that it was the most painful season since Peyton Manning's arrival. Even in 1998 we saw glimmers of hope and had reason to believe things would soon change. Nothing during that timeframe even compared to the 2011 campaign. It was for all intents and purposes the nightmare come true. It was nothing short of horrific.

Yet somehow the Colts managed to hang around many games until the end. In my mind (and without looking at the actual game logs) they were much more competitive than 2-14. As I recall they had a chance to basically beat everyone except a few teams. They even had a shot against the Patriots. I can't remember specifically which games were blowouts but it didn't seem like many. Then again I've already started to forget which quarterback started which game but let's not let facts get in the way--they were competitive to me and that's what counts here.

Second, new head coach Chuck Pagano is bound to improve a defense that was essentially in the cellar all year. Heck, he couldn't be any worse right? We all know the 3-4 dominates the league now. It does right? Anyway, the defense still has Freeney and Mathis and a new attacking scheme so even a moderate improvement is going to take a few of those close games in 2011 and turn them magically into wins in 2012. Chalk it up baby! We're on a roll now.

Join Rohan Bhasin and Greg Cowan as they discuss the Colts making a MONUMENTAL TRADE, the opening of OTAs, draft pick contract update, and various league-wide news!

The Colts have acquired another cornerback, this time via trade with Peyton Manning's new team: the Denver Broncos. The Colts received third year veteran CB Cassius Vaughn, while giving up FB Chris Gronkowski. Gronkowski landed on injured reserve last season (pectoral), and the Colts added Ryan Mahaffey and Jerome Felton at fullback. Felton is now a Viking, and Mahaffey looks to be the primary option at fullback in 2012.

Vaughn played in nine games last season, before a broken fibula relegated him to the injured reserve list, starting three. He massed 20 tackles, four pass defenses, and an interception return for a touchdown. He also can return kicks (averaged 30 yards per KR last season, albeit on only seven kicks), and PFF rated him positively returning the ball in 2011. It sounds like he's not great in coverage, but he's a decent run supporter, and is also a reliable gunner on special teams, something the Colts could obviously use. Vaughn also brings some depth to a talent-depleted secondary.

Good move by the Colts' front office, taking a guy who the Colts got off waivers last year, and may not have played this year, and turning him into a good special teams player with added depth in the secondary.

Yesterday, the Colts officially announced the signing of fifth round pick defensive tackle Josh Chapman. Chapman was the first pick of the fifth round and a great value pick for Ryan Grigson and his team. 

Chapman projects to be a nose tackle in the new defensive system, and both he and Colts' officials have projected confidence in his ability to become the primary nose tackle for the Colts' defense. He will likely start as a rotational player this season (if he's ready for the season, due to an ACL injury), behind Brandon McKinney. 

While it was reported that Chapman had agreed to a deal last week, it wasn't official until this week. The Colts now have six picks signed; only the 1st through 3rd round picks (Luck, Fleener, Allen, and Hilton) are currently unsigned. 

Besides the fantastic special teams (note the sarcasm), the Colts did have some other bright spots in 2011. One of the fan favorites on a very poor defense was middle linebacker Pat Angerer. 

While Angerer was overrated by many Colts fans, he has some very special talents, and a nose for the football. For these reasons, Angerer had the top performance by an 4-3 middle linebacker in 2011, according to Pro Football Focus:

1. Pat Angerer, Indianapolis Colts: Week 15 vs. Tennessee (+6.6)

While we were as sick as anyone being told Angerer was a top player because he made a lot of tackles (newsflash, the Colts allmade lots of tackles because their defense was on the field so often) we wouldn’t argue with how excellent he looked in Week 15. He ended up with seven defensive stops (including a tackle for a loss) while forcing a fumble, breaking up a pass, and hauling in an interception. A performance to excite a fan base who had little to get excited about in 2011."

I was planning on doing a larger post on this today, but the special teams disturbances distracted me for a while. I'll have a more detailed post up on Thursday about Angerer. 

I'm very intrigued in Angerer's performance last year, how he improved, and how he fits into the new 3-4/hybrid defense. While Angerer doesn't have the prototypical size for a 3-4 linebacker, I don't think that's as big of a problem as some. I'm also wary of citing Angerer's coverage skills as a problem, as he was the Colts' best linebacker in coverage last season, at least, statistically. He's a good football player, so I'm not going to worry too much about the system. 

Before the 2011 campaign began, fans had high expectations despite the late summer news of Peyton Manning's surgery. The Colts were coming off an admittedly disappointing 10-6 2010 season that was riddled with injuries, poor coaching decisions and another first-round playoff ejection. Most expected the Colts to return to their 2009 form and gain another shot at a Lombardi.

Looking back, that expectation now seems surreal. The 2012 Colts are a mere shadow of the once-great team that built Lucas Oil Stadium. The team that had appeared in two of the last four Super Bowls made sweeping changes, replacing names like Manning, Saturday and Polian with Luck, Satele and Grigson along the way. Their string of mild-mannered, conservative coaches were replaced by a firebrand of a man in Chuck Pagano. In short, they changed everything in a matter of mere months.

As fans, we know our flawed logic is going to prevent accurate predictions. After all, we expected the 2011 Colts to win it all. So how can we determine to expect in 2012? The answer may be found in the past.

We all know that the Colts' special teams was really bad. As in, close-your-eyes-and-hope-the-other-team-doesn't-score bad.

As much potential as I think Joe Lefeged may have as a depth player in the defensive backfield, he made me cringe more consistently than any other player I've seen in the Manning era (during his kick/punt returns). More than Keyunta Dawson, more than Tim Jennings, even more than Gijon Robinson. 

The Colts were all bad in 2011. It was a doomed season as soon as we knew Peyton Manning was going to miss the majority of it. Even still, the special teams was a uniquely frustrating kind of bad. Yet, even with the special teams struggles, there were positives as well.