It's been too long since the last Colts Authority Tweetbag, affectionately known as the Cat Wee Bag by its legion of faithful followers.

You can participate in the tweetbag by tweeting me with the hashtag #CATweetbag. You can also drop me a line via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

It's been a busy month since the draft, but I did have time to check in with Titan Sized to share my thoughts about the 2013 Colts. The end result was a string of unpleasant Twitter conversations with angry Titans fans who are mystified why I don't think signing a couple of guards and Shonne Greene will transform the Tennessee offense.

And people wonder why I quit my full-time writing job. Yeesh.

Today's Tweetbag contains none of that nonsense, but plenty of other nonsense starting with an email from an old friend of 18to88. Welcome back J.C., everyone!

Jan 30, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (left) fists bumps NFL Play 60 Super Kid Hunter Paulin at the NFL Play 60 Kids Day at the Super Bowl XLVII Experience at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Last Friday evening, I was lucky enough to be present for a question and answer session with Colts quarterback Andrew Luck in London. Being the pitiful fanboy that I am, I travelled 200 miles to the other end of England to meet him, which took a painful 7 hours, but the end goal made it worthwhile - plus I showed up rocking my neckbeard and Colts shirt with pride to complete the fanboy image.

Luck spent the early years of his life outside of the States, as his father Oliver was the GM of two WLAF (World League of American Football) teams, and one of the cities that Luck was schooled in alongisde Frankfurt, Germany was London, so the event was in a sense a homecoming for Luck.

The evening, hosted by NFL UK, saw around 600 fans from across England have the opportunity to sit and ask Luck a number of questions, and I was fortunate enough to be able to record the evening and share some answers with you.

Dec. 2, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver Donnie Avery (not pictured) to defeat the Detroit Lions 35-33 at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

One of the projects I've decided to undertake this off season is a comprehensive look at red zone performances. While the importance of red zone performance, like anything, can be over stated, the reality is that the compressed field within the opposing team's 20-yard line does create a set of parameters unlike the rest of the field. 

For Colts fans, this was apparent as the team had 71 drives that accumulated over 40 yards, but only 32 of those (45%) ended in touchdowns. While having the 7th most amount of long drives, the Colts' TD rate was 12th worst, leading to an overall "underachieving" feel.

On the flip side, the Colts' defense allowed 74 such drives, 3rd most in the league. But by only allowing 45% to end in touchdowns (9th lowest rate in the league), they kept their points allowed total relatively low and kept games close. 

Long story short, performance in the red zone is important. We've looked at comparative team performance so far, and dug a little deeper into the Colts' team numbers. 

Today we step back again into the league as a whole, and delve into the numbers for individual quarterbacks. Which quarterbacks ran, passed and drew penalties at the best rates in 2012, and why? 

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne (87) is congratulated by team mates after scoring a touchdown in the second half of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The Colts won 20-13. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Last week, I introduced a series that I'll be working on for a couple weeks for Colts Authority: performance in the redzone. 

If you haven't read the introduction already, please do. It won't take you long, and what little information that was there may be useful.

In the piece, I gave a quick look at the league as a whole, with a chart that listed each team and where they ranked in touchdown percentage (how many times a team scored a touchdown per trip to the redzone) throughout the 2012 regular season. In order to save you a click and a few seconds, here is that chart once again: 

I gave a few notes in that intro piece about the league as a whole, but before we get into league-wide comparisons for individuals and different positions, I wanted to dig a little deeper into the Colts' team performance. 

Peyton Manning is the obvious choice for number one on this list, no matter what metric you use. (Brian Spurlock- USA TODAY)

Earlier today, fellow Colts Featured Columnist Tyler Brooke posted his top 25 players in Indianapolis Colts history.

Tyler is a friend of Colts Authority, and a good writer, but I did have a few issues with his list, such as the inclusion of Cato June over other Manning-era players such as Antoine Bethea and Jospeh Addai (and I was a huge Cato June fan). 

Another issue is not including players from the Baltimore era. I understand the mentality, and it's no knock on the list, but personally I'd like to see a list that includes players from both eras. 

So, here's a quick couple of lists, based on Pro-Football-References'  Approximate Value, a metric that aims to put a single number on each players' individual seasons. For more information on AV, check out this series of posts on PFR. 

Obviously this isn't an end-all-be-all list. AV isn't a perfect metric (doesn't measure kickers or punters either), and there are other factors to be taken into consideration. Nevertheless, it's an interesting discussion.

Yesterday, the Indianapolis Colts announced they had signed Caesar Rayford, a 6-7 265-pound Arena League linebacker who played the past three years with the Utah Blaze.  To make room, they released former Indoor Football League linebacker Jake Killeen, who had signed a reserve/future contract back in January.

Rayford was a reserve at the University of Washington but managed to total 10 tackles and 4 sacks his senior year.  The Detroit Lions added him as an undrafted free agent in 2008, but Rayford soon found himself in the CFL with the B.C. Lions.  After stints with B.C. and the AFL’s Spokane Shock, Rayford finally managed to make a name for himself with the Utah Blaze, where he stood out the past three seasons.  In 2012, Rayford totaled 21 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 7 tackles for a loss, three passes defensed, a forced fumble, and a blocked kick.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Summer for NFL analysts is a conflicting time. 

While the lack of NFL news and activity is frustrating, the extra time allows for us to put the time and effort into digging deeper into numbers and film. Some of my favorite pieces have come during the offseason, such as the Colts' draft review and last year's examination of clutch quarterbacks.

I'll be doing a lot of different film and stat reviews throughout the offseason, and I welcome you to send me suggestions, either in the comments or on Twitter. 

I'll be comparing quarterbacks in several different areas throughout the summer, including updating the third down numbers I looked at during the season. 

But first, I'm going to look at something I could find little comparative statistical work on in my brief Google search: red zone performance. I won't limit this work to quarterbacks though, instead will take a look at both teams and individual performances at different positions. 

Andrew Luck and Darrius Heyward-Bey look on during the Colts' OTAs. [Brian Spurlock- USA TODAY]

Fun story: I wrote out this entire piece long-form and had it all nice and pretty looking with a lot of extra comments and analysis... and then my laptop overheated and everything died and went to be with all the other pieces I've lost over the years in Blogger Purgatory. 

Normally, I'd sit down and re-write it, as I'd put the thought in and whatnot already, I just need to re-type everything. But seeing as how it's now 2 AM and I'm still recovering from the Pacer's choke job in Miami, you're just going to get the notes without a lot of long form analysis. It's probably better this way anyway. How much of that analysis means anything when we're talking OTAs? 

Don't answer that. It might depress me. 

Anyway, on to the notes. 

The first round of Monday-Wednesday OTA’s is complete, and the transcripts are in.  Today’s focus is the defense, with more to come this week.

Of course, this time of year, everyone has a very positive outlook.  What is often interesting are which names the coaches and players mention without being asked about anyone in particular. 

This can be more telling than the understandably upbeat coach speak about how great the team looks in practice.  So, who, besides Andrew Luck, has already stood out enough to garner a mention from a coach or teammate?  There are a couple such gems in the quotes today, so without further delay, let’s get to the Notebook. 

Jan 6, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) sacked by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Paul Kruger (99) during the AFC Wild Card playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

As seasoned, and no doubt well-read, members of the NFL fan community, we have all likely heard the term “sophomore slump” bandied about in football discussions amongst so-called analysts and sports radio rhetoricians (just yesterday Dan Hope of Bleacher Report posted an article which has a Luck sophomore slump as the Colts' "nightmare scenario").  In certain circles it’s a phenomenon that’s reached near axiomatic-like reverence, an expectation rather than a potentiality.

The term “sophomore slump” is a clever alliterative turn of phrase used to illustrate the difficulty inherent in following up a solid performance.  Success leads to heightened, often unrealistic, expectations which in turn frequently lead to disappointment. 

In music, a sophomore slump refers to an artist or band that fails to back up a good first album with a second, in higher education, as many of us undoubtedly know, it’s common to have a significant dip in GPA from year one to two, and in football the term is generally used to describe a drop in production that a second year QB experiences as they transition from a learner in year one (with room to make mistakes) to a leader in year two (and all the responsibility and pressure that entails), or so the story goes.

In a recent conference call with season ticket holders, Colts’ head coach, Chuck Pagano, fielded a question from a concerned patron on this very issue.  Chuck dismissed the notion as unworthy of consideration, at least as it pertains to Andrew Luck:

“We don’t talk about a sophomore slump at West 56th Street, believe me. Nobody is harder on themselves than Andrew. This guy’s a tireless, tireless worker.”

Traditional coach-speak platitudes or genuine lack of concern?

Being the dogged seeker of truth that I am, I decided to investigate.  The results might surprise you.