I posted this in a reply to the RATS board and thought some of you may be interested:
Roby was drafted by the Titans along with two other WR's in the 2005 draft. Of all those, he was a favorite of the Titans GM Reese (now on ESPN). His rookie season he ran ONE, yes, ONE bad route, and McNair refused to throw ONE ball his way again. But he did start just about every game and he and Pac Man Jones were probably the best 1-2 kick off return combo in the NFL. Each, I believe, averaged more than 27 yards a return.
2006 season comes and the Titans hire Chow as the offensive coordinator. Chow's offense was so vanilla that it did not exploit Roby's talents-speed, quick cuts, and good hands. He was not active for the first four games (or three) until the Colts game at Indy. He was on the KICK OFF team and throughout the season was a big reason the Titans went on the winning streak that they did. He played spottingly at WR and contributed on the kick off team making many tackles-surprising for his size but not surprising because of his speed getting down the field after the kick. He made a great catch against the Colts near the end of the first half of the game (was reviewed and upheld to be a good catch) that set up a 20 yard TD pass to Drew Bennett at the end of the first half (Tennessee went on to win the game on a 60-yard field goal). Also, Roby made the key block on a 40 yard TD run by Vince Young in OT in the Titans win at Houston. Here is the link to the play (note how none of the play-by-play guys make a single comment about the block-only how great the run was):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9acRrOEleC8
2007 season comes and surprise, Chow's offense is just as vanilla as before. He had a great camp and made catches like one you can see on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vRYaQAEnVo .
If you also remember during the pre-season, Vince Young went after a DB who cheap shotted a WR after a pass in a shoulder pads only drill. That WR was Courtney Roby. Here is the youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KgLK25PdoY&NR=1
Already not a favorite of Chow, he was a favorite of departed GM Reese. Note "departed GM Reese". Without having an offense that highlighted ANY of his skills, an Offensive Coordinator that didn't fit his scheme, a new GM that did not draft him, Roby was the odd man out on a Titans receiving corps that was the pride of the USFL, er, CFL, er, I mean NFL.
He was then signed to a two-year (non-guaranteed) contract by the Bengals and was a member of the Bengals for four practices and one game (home game vs. the Steelers-he was active but did not participate in that game).
Courtney had a tryout with the Colts during the week that they activated Aromoshadou (sic?), when the Colts decided that week 13 (or some time around then) was not the time to try to get a new receiver up to speed with the Colts complicated offense though they were very impressed with Roby's workout. They were impressed enough to sign him to a two-year contract that included a signing bonus, amount of signing bonus I do not know.
Roby has been plagued by offenses that did not fit his style of play going all the way back to his middle school days at Eastwood Middle School where he was a quarterback for two years in a run-and-shoot offense that focused on the run, rather than the pass. He then had two unproductive years at a floundering Lawrence North program and transferred to North Central High School for his Junior and Senior Seasons where he was a standout wide receiver. Ironically, his top wide receiver in middle school, Eric Hooks, became the quarterback of North Central, while Roby became the #1 receiver that Hooks was with Eastwood Middle School. Hooks, incidently, just completed his career with Saint Francis College in Ft. Wayne that included two trips to the NAIA National Championship Football game.
Roby was (maybe still is) IU Football's #1 receiver of all-time statistically. This with two seasons while playing with such QB greats as Matt LoVecchio, and I'm sure some other guys. Recruited by then Coach Cam Cameron to IU, Roby is the cousin of former IU Basketball great Landon Turner (Tech), his uncle is former IU Football great wide receiver Rob Turner (Chatart), and another cousin is, arguably, the second best punter of all-time Reggie Roby (Iowa, Miami Dolphins, Washington Redskins). Going into the 2005 NFL Draft Courtney had the second best 40 time at the combine (4.34).
He is perfect for the Colts offense and I am confident that he is already working hard to make sure he is a productive member of the 2008 Indianapolis Colts. I, personally, am hopeful that he gets an opportunity to return kicks (and punts), maybe is on the kickoff team (because that part of the Colts really had a tough time this year with kick off coverage), and gets into the rotation at Wide Receiver with Wayne and Harrison. He is a strong slot receiver-played a similar position in high school, some at IU, but I foresee him more as a WR rather than a slot in the Colts offense. Hope this gives some of you some understanding of the talent that Roby possesses. Right now, I'd put him at #4 in the receiver depth chart. This does not include TE's, of course, though the Colts do sometimes use Clark and Utech (mostly Clark) in the slot position.
Roby was drafted by the Titans along with two other WR's in the 2005 draft. Of all those, he was a favorite of the Titans GM Reese (now on ESPN). His rookie season he ran ONE, yes, ONE bad route, and McNair refused to throw ONE ball his way again. But he did start just about every game and he and Pac Man Jones were probably the best 1-2 kick off return combo in the NFL. Each, I believe, averaged more than 27 yards a return.
2006 season comes and the Titans hire Chow as the offensive coordinator. Chow's offense was so vanilla that it did not exploit Roby's talents-speed, quick cuts, and good hands. He was not active for the first four games (or three) until the Colts game at Indy. He was on the KICK OFF team and throughout the season was a big reason the Titans went on the winning streak that they did. He played spottingly at WR and contributed on the kick off team making many tackles-surprising for his size but not surprising because of his speed getting down the field after the kick. He made a great catch against the Colts near the end of the first half of the game (was reviewed and upheld to be a good catch) that set up a 20 yard TD pass to Drew Bennett at the end of the first half (Tennessee went on to win the game on a 60-yard field goal). Also, Roby made the key block on a 40 yard TD run by Vince Young in OT in the Titans win at Houston. Here is the link to the play (note how none of the play-by-play guys make a single comment about the block-only how great the run was):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9acRrOEleC8
2007 season comes and surprise, Chow's offense is just as vanilla as before. He had a great camp and made catches like one you can see on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vRYaQAEnVo .
If you also remember during the pre-season, Vince Young went after a DB who cheap shotted a WR after a pass in a shoulder pads only drill. That WR was Courtney Roby. Here is the youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KgLK25PdoY&NR=1
Already not a favorite of Chow, he was a favorite of departed GM Reese. Note "departed GM Reese". Without having an offense that highlighted ANY of his skills, an Offensive Coordinator that didn't fit his scheme, a new GM that did not draft him, Roby was the odd man out on a Titans receiving corps that was the pride of the USFL, er, CFL, er, I mean NFL.
He was then signed to a two-year (non-guaranteed) contract by the Bengals and was a member of the Bengals for four practices and one game (home game vs. the Steelers-he was active but did not participate in that game).
Courtney had a tryout with the Colts during the week that they activated Aromoshadou (sic?), when the Colts decided that week 13 (or some time around then) was not the time to try to get a new receiver up to speed with the Colts complicated offense though they were very impressed with Roby's workout. They were impressed enough to sign him to a two-year contract that included a signing bonus, amount of signing bonus I do not know.
Roby has been plagued by offenses that did not fit his style of play going all the way back to his middle school days at Eastwood Middle School where he was a quarterback for two years in a run-and-shoot offense that focused on the run, rather than the pass. He then had two unproductive years at a floundering Lawrence North program and transferred to North Central High School for his Junior and Senior Seasons where he was a standout wide receiver. Ironically, his top wide receiver in middle school, Eric Hooks, became the quarterback of North Central, while Roby became the #1 receiver that Hooks was with Eastwood Middle School. Hooks, incidently, just completed his career with Saint Francis College in Ft. Wayne that included two trips to the NAIA National Championship Football game.
Roby was (maybe still is) IU Football's #1 receiver of all-time statistically. This with two seasons while playing with such QB greats as Matt LoVecchio, and I'm sure some other guys. Recruited by then Coach Cam Cameron to IU, Roby is the cousin of former IU Basketball great Landon Turner (Tech), his uncle is former IU Football great wide receiver Rob Turner (Chatart), and another cousin is, arguably, the second best punter of all-time Reggie Roby (Iowa, Miami Dolphins, Washington Redskins). Going into the 2005 NFL Draft Courtney had the second best 40 time at the combine (4.34).
He is perfect for the Colts offense and I am confident that he is already working hard to make sure he is a productive member of the 2008 Indianapolis Colts. I, personally, am hopeful that he gets an opportunity to return kicks (and punts), maybe is on the kickoff team (because that part of the Colts really had a tough time this year with kick off coverage), and gets into the rotation at Wide Receiver with Wayne and Harrison. He is a strong slot receiver-played a similar position in high school, some at IU, but I foresee him more as a WR rather than a slot in the Colts offense. Hope this gives some of you some understanding of the talent that Roby possesses. Right now, I'd put him at #4 in the receiver depth chart. This does not include TE's, of course, though the Colts do sometimes use Clark and Utech (mostly Clark) in the slot position.
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