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The 2017 Indianapolis Colts season hasn’t exactly gone as planned. The franchise quarterback that everybody hoped would be back for the start of the season was eventually declared out for the entire season. The replacement plan went poorly until the Colts made a trade. Young building blocks have gotten injured, and now the team sits at 3-7.
Alas, unless the team makes a miraculous run at things following their Week 11 bye, the playoffs aren’t the storyline to look for. Instead, this week I am pointing out several others that I am watching instead.
Jacoby Brissett’s Development
At one point this season, it looked like Jacoby Brissett might ascend to stardom. He played well early on in his Colts tenure, making Scott Tolzien look like a distant memory, and he made it seem like the Colts might be okay until Andrew Luck returned.
Brissett hit some rough patches, which should have been expected from a guy who is still basically a rookie quarterback. Recently, things have been pointing up again, though, as he looks more comfortable and is making some better reads.
The Colts could really use a strong backup quarterback behind Luck, which Brissett absolutely appears to be. However, if Brissett finishes the season strong, he could have other teams scouting him for the 2018 offseason. There are about eight or nine teams that could feasibly look to make a quarterback change for next season, and if they decide Brissett is who they want to bring in, it will come at a pretty price.
Hypothetically, if this happens, the Colts will need to weigh the benefits of having a backup quarterback who they know they can rely on, or the potential rich draft capital that they could receive in return.
Quincy Wilson’s Role
It’s hard to swallow that we haven’t seen Colts second-round pick Quincy Wilson play since Week 2. He had a really solid game that week, but then a nagging knee injury combined with some really weird philosophical reasoning from the coaching staff had led to Wilson missing the last eight games. He was healthy enough to be made active in Week 10, but he saw zero snaps — not even on special teams.
One would assume that he will be in even better physical condition in Week 12 when the Colts return from their bye week. However, the Colts are getting excellent cornerback play right now. Between Rashaan Melvin and Pierre Desir on the boundaries and Nate Hairston in the nickel, the Colts have no need to make changes at the position right now.
The Colts know that they can’t just have their second-round pick sitting there like a bump on a log while healthy. Will they at least get Wilson into some special teams scenarios? What about obvious passing downs? Something?