Which Colts Player is Under the Most Pressure?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Wow. Many surprises in Wk 1. <a href="https://twitter.com/SBNation">@SBNation</a>: on your team, who is now facing the pressure to perform? ... <a href="http://t.co/fez0V7D33a">http://t.co/fez0V7D33a</a></p>&mdash; Marshall Faulk (@marshallfaulk) <a href="https://twitter.com/marshallfaulk/status/509698689095700480">September 10, 2014</a></blockquote>

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That's a good question, Marshall Faulk.   Which Colts player is under the most pressure this season?  If you want to be funny you can say that it's Andrew Luck, as he's often under pressure from that offensive line, or then seriously you could say it's one of the linemen.  You could make a strong case for running back Trent Richardson, as the Colts gave up a first round pick for him last year and up to this point he hasn't been good.

But especially considering the news this week, the easy answer is outside linebacker Bjoern Werner.  While Robert Mathis was suspended for the first four games of the season anyway, he recently tore his Achilles and will miss the entire season.  It's a crushing blow for the Colts, as last year Mathis not only led the league with 19.5 sacks, he also was really the only consistent pass rush the Colts had.  Now, they'll have to play the entire season without him and the pass rush isn't improved much at all from a year ago, either.

This year, the pressure is absolutely on Bjoern Werner.  He was the team's first round draft pick a year ago but didn't do much in his rookie season, notching just 2.5 sacks.  He had an impressive training camp and preseason, but in the first regular game against the Broncos he didn't do much at all.  The Colts really didn't generate any pass rush and gave Peyton Manning a lot of time to throw.  That's the hardest test they'll have this year and now they'll likely use a lot of blitzes to get pressure, but the fact of the matter is that the pass rush is a major, major concern.

Bjoern Werner needs to step up.  There's really no other option.  The pressure is absolutely on Werner to provide pass rush.  The Colts know that he won't be able to replace Mathis' production and the Colts know that no one player is going to be able to so they're taking a team approach to doing so.  They'll use blitzes, they'll use linebackers, defensive linemen, corners and safeties in an effort to try to generate pressure.  They know it's a team effort.  But even still, there has to be that one player who's the consistent pass rusher.  He doesn't have to be great but just a guy who's there who can get pressure.  The Colts don't have that guy right now, and the only real option they have of someone possibly turning into that guy is Bjoern Werner.

He was drafted in the first round last year for a reason.  He didn't show that reason last year as a rookie, but he needs to this year.  The Colts really don't have many other options with their pass rush.

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