Ranking Colts Position Groups in the AFCS: Week 6

By Mateo Caliz Oct 14, 2020, 4:00pm EDT

Yesterday, the Titans had a statement win against the Bills, although an argument can be made that they had 2 weeks to prepare for the game because of their postponed game. The Texans finally got into the win column, beating a Jaguars team that offered little resistance. Indy lost a good game against the Browns, but should bounce back next Sunday.

Quarterbacks

Tannehill overtakes Watson as the top quarterback in the division, as Deshaun continued his struggles against the Jaguars, throwing 2 interceptions, while Tannehill was excellent against the Bills.
Gardner Minshew is an average NFL quarterback, I view him kind of like a poor man’s Derek Carr.
Rivers, at this point in his career, is nothing more than a game manager with a really high football IQ, he should not be asked to be anything else.

Running Backs

Titans
Colts
Texans (+1)
Jaguars (-1)

James Robinson has faced some reversion to the mean in the past two games, as his success enjoyed early on in the season was unsustainable.
David Johnson had a good game against the Jaguars, the Texans can only hope that he continues playing somewhat like this so they avoid looking really dumb.
Derrick Henry is not as dominant as last season, but his value to the Titans (4-0) is undeniable.

Wide Receivers

Texans
Titans
Jaguars
Colts

This week, it was Brandin Cooks’ turn to go off in the Texans passing game, as he went over 150 yards and had a score.
The Jaguars’ young receiving corps shows plenty of promise.
A.J Brown returned from injury and scored a touchdown.

Tight Ends

Titans
Texans (+1)
Colts (-1)
Jaguars

Jonnu Smith caught two touchdowns for the Titans, as he continues proving he is by far the best tight end in the division.
Jack Doyle looks really bad, it is beyond me why he is still getting more snaps than Mo Alie-Cox, who is better as a blocker and as a receiver.

Offensive Line

Colts
Titans
Jaguars
Texans

The Colts struggled a lot without Anthony Castonzo, but the run blocking seemed to take a step forward, which is encouraging to see given the recent woes running the ball.
Tannehill makes his offensive line look better than it actually is, as they have not been playing lights out, but they still are the second best unit in the AFCS.

Defensive Line

Colts
Titans
Jaguars
Texans

The Colts have one of the best run defenses in the NFL, and just shut down a vaunted Browns ground attack without their top linebacker, so kudos to the defensive line.
Jadeveon Clowney looked much better yesterday than he did earlier in the season.

Linebackers

Colts
Titans
Jaguars
Texans

Had it not been for Bernardrick McKinney’s injury (who is now out for the season) the Texans would have passed the Jags for the #3 spot.
The Colts have perhaps the best young linebacking core in the League. Zaire Franklin stepped up with Leonard out and had a really solid game.

Secondary

Colts
Titans
Jaguars
Texans

The Colts secondary struggled in the first half, but got it together later in the game shutting down the Browns’ passing attack.
The Titans secondary did a good job of pounding on Josh Allen’s mistakes, nabbing two interceptions.

Special Teams

Colts
Titans
Texans (+1)
Jaguars (-1)

The Colts had some good and some bad on the special teams front on Sunday. The good is that Isaiah Rodgers returned a kickoff 101 yards to the house, and Rodrigo Blankenship was once again perfect, but Nyheim Hines fielded a punt inside the 5-yard line, leaving Rivers with his back against the end-zone and the drive resulted in a safety.
The Jaguars desperately miss Josh Lambo, as new kicker Stephen Hauschka missed his two field goal attempts.