/>Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesStampede Blue homepageHorizontal - WhiteStampede Bluean Indianapolis Colts communityFollow Stampede Blue online:Follow Stampede Blue on TwitterFollow Stampede Blue on FacebookLog in or sign upLog InSign UpSite searchSearchSearchStampede Blue main menuFanpostsFanshotsColtsShopAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 321 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Colts StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Colts NewsYahoo Colts Team PageYahoo Colts ReportYahoo Colts Depth ChartYahoo Colts TransactionsYahoo Colts PhotosShop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕Breaking NewsAndrew Luck Retires×Colts training camp: GM Ballard eyeing these 3 position battlesNew Adam Vinatieri Jersey ,12commentsExpectations are high heading into campEDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:Colts training camp: GM Ballard eyeing these 3 position battlesTwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailThe mood was palpable in Westfield on Wednesday as Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard took to the podium. There are quite clearly high expectations coming into the 2019 season. “Look, we’ve got a good football team. I’m not going to shy away from that. We’ve got a good football team, but that doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed wins,” a modest Ballard told reporters. For Colts fans the mood spells optimism and excitement. Part of the reason those feelings exist is due to impending training camp battles expected to produce, at the very least, a high level of competition and perhaps more clarity as the front office shapes the opening day roster. Here are three upcoming training camp battles that we know Ballard will be watching closely.The O-lineWhile starting left tackle Anthony Castonzo has the position on lock down, he did miss five games in 2018 due to a hamstring injury. The backup spots will be of intrigue to Ballard. “I think if you look at the o-line, we were really happy with Le’Raven Clark this spring. It’s different when you get the pads on,” said the GM. “You have to continue the growth, but that competition between him (Antonio) Garcia, Joe Haeg – all those at sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th linemen, those five spots, which you know how critically important I think those are.”Lineman like Clark, Garcia, Haeg and J’Marcus Webb are all possible candidates to be Castonzo’s backup, and to fill out other backup spots. The former Patriot Garcia will miss the first four games of the season for a PED violation. Meanwhile Marvin Harrison Color Rush Jersey , Clark, Haeg and Webb could all step in during the early season if the projected starter at right tackle, second-year pro Braden Smith, goes down. Which player ends up becoming that first man up will largely be dictated by how the next few weeks play out. The D-line Things got spicy this season after Ballard and company took Ben Banogu out of TCU in the second round, a player who spent most of his college snaps playing at defensive end. In the sixth round, Ballard took Mississippi State’s Gerri Green. “On the d-line, there’s some depth and there’s going to be some competition between the young players with (Ben) Banogu getting some rush time and (Al-Quadin) Muhammad and Gerri Green,” said Ballard. While Jabal Sheard and Justin Houston are set to start at the end positions, there will be snaps to go around to backups, particularly on third down. The Colts current depth in the d-line is impressive, with Muhammad, Banogu, Green, Kemoko Turay and even little-used Carroll Phillips. Of all the backups, Muhammad commanded the most playing time last season, grabbing nearly 40 percent of all defensive snaps (Sheard led all ends with 77.65 percent of defensive snaps). Turay, who played in 14 games last season, racked up the third-most snaps at defensive end under Sheard and Muhammad, with 36.5 percent. The Colts have already expressed that Banogu could slot in on third down packages. But what if Muhammad has a fantastic training camp? Only time will tell. Wide receiversPhoto by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesThe pass-catchers will be a fun group to watch in 2019. Moreover, this group may represent the most intriguing battle in all of training camp this year. TY Hilton and Devin Funchess will start while Chester Rogers seems the likely third man. Beyond them https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Tarell-Basham-Jersey , there’s quite a level of talent lurking underneath. Backing up the starters will be third-year guys Zach Pascal and Marcus Johnson along with Ohio State rookie Parris Campbell and second-year man Deon Cain, who was sidelined with an ACL injury for all of 2018. “I think there’s going to be real competition at wideout. It’s going to be fun to watch that group compete because they all have special roles,” said Ballard. Chief among Ballard’s attention will be third-year wideout Zach Pascal, who played in just under half of all offensive snaps last season, bringing in a pair of touchdowns on 27 catches. “I think he goes understated how Zach played last year,” said Ballard. “I thought Zach Pascal played really well for us. I mean that was a June claim and he comes in and competes his butt off and makes it. Plays unselfish, plays on special teams, plays any spot you ask him to play.”On Cain, the former Clemson Tiger standout, Ballard is particularly ready to see what transpires in Westfield.“Deon Cain. First, I’m very proud of the kid. To watch him work over the last year has been – I think Deon will tell you this. He’s probably grown and matured more in the last year. You know sometimes setbacks can be a positive and he turned it into one and man he worked his ass off. We’ll limit him here early, but the last two days have been pretty fun to watch,” said Ballard. Read also: Great Expectations: the Curious Case of Deon CainCain missed his entire rookie season due to a torn ACL suffered in the preseason opener. Before that, at Clemson, he put up over 1,400 yards receiving and 15 TDS in 2016 and 2017, catching passes from both Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence. With quarterback Andrew Luck having firmly escaped the grip of injury concerns, this season could be a special one for a receiving corps that hasn’t always been given its due respect. “The Greatest Game Ever Played” is, well, exactly that.The Baltimore Colts‘ 23-17 victory over the New York Giants for the 1958 NFL championship Tyquan Lewis Jersey , the first overtime game in league history, was voted the best game as part of the NFL’s celebration of its 100th season. A nationwide panel of 66 media members chose the classic over the 1981 NFC title match featuring the Joe Montana pass to Dwight Clark known as “The Catch,” and the “Ice Bowl” in Green Bay for the 1967 league title.Baltimore’s win on Alan “The Horse” Ameche’s 1-yard touchdown run served as a catalyst for NFL popularity. The sport generally ranked behind baseball, boxing and college football back then, with even horse racing getting as much attention. But America was entranced by the drama and the stars such as John Unitas, Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, and Gino Marchetti — who broke his leg early in the game. In all, 17 future Hall of Famers participated.“It was New York that did it,” said Colts running back Lenny Moore, one of those Hall of Famers. “If it had been Baltimore against … maybe Cleveland … most people wouldn’t have noticed, certainly not Madison Avenue or the media.”But Americans did notice, a true turning point for the NFL.“Pete Rozelle always told me that the reason pro football took off was because that happened just at that time, in that season, and it happened in New York,” Giants owner Wellington Mara once said.There was even some confusion among fans and, yes, players at Yankee Stadium, plus those watching on TV, what would happen after Steve Myhra’s 20-yard field goal tied it. No postseason game had ever been tied after regulation.“We really didn’t know what to do Ryan Grant Color Rush Jersey ,” Colts standout receiver Raymond Berry said. “We’d never played it. Nobody had ever played it. Nobody really knew what came next.”New York won the coin toss for overtime, couldn’t move the ball, and Unitas guided the Colts 80 yards on 13 plays to Ameche’s conclusion to the NFL’s greatest game.“I can’t judge for anyone else,” said Ameche, whose nickname emanated from his willing to practice, “but it’s the greatest game I ever played in.”The greatness of the event was not particularly marred by the sloppiness on the field. There were six lost fumbles, and Colts coach Weeb Ewbank — the only man to lead NFL and AFL championship teams — shackled Unitas for most of the OT drive.But the status of a game some media called “an epic” never has diminished, and in the midst of the league hitting the century mark, it has been deemed No. 1 amongst all.It received 18 first-place votes , by far the most in the balloting. Next best for top votes was the Patriots‘ rally from 28-3 to beat the Falcons in the 2017 Super Bowl, which got 10 and finished ninth overall. The Ice Bowl got eight first-place selections.Sixty-one years later, though, Colts-Giants reigns.“If you’re going to point to one game that gave the NFL momentum to accomplish some of the things that the league has been able to do,” said Pete Rozelle, then the GM of the Rams and generally considered the best commissioner in pro sports history, “it would have to be the 1958 championship game.”