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In this series on Stampede Blue, I’m going to break down each player on a 50-100 Madden-style scale each week to help identify and illustrate which players are the best and most valuable players on the team. Please take note that these are current values and don’t think into account the value or future potential (or regression) of a player. Here is a breakdown of the tiers:
Tiers
95 to 100 — One of the 3, 4 best players at his position in the NFL
90 to 94 — An elite, top 10 NFL player at his position in the NFL
85 to 89 — A borderline elite player who will make plenty of plays in each game
80 to 84 — An above average starter
75 to 79 — An average starter who won’t hurt you
70 to 74 — An average starter who should only be used in small spurts
65 to 69 — A below average starter and above average backup
60 to 64 — An average backup
60 or below — A borderline roster player
Quarterbacks
Philip Rivers — 80 (+1)
Jacoby Brissett — 76
Jacob Eason — 68
Running Backs
Jonathan Taylor — 78 (+1)
Nyheim Hines — 74
Jordan Wilkins — 71 (-1)
Marlon Mack — 79 (Injured Reserve)
Wide Receivers
T.Y. Hilton — 80 (-2)
Zach Pascal — 76
Marcus Johnson — 72 (+3)
De’Michael Harris — 66
Ashton Dulin — 65 (-1)
Daurice Fountain — 64
Dezmon Patmon — 61
Parris Campbell — 77 (Injured Reserve)
Michael Pittman — 75 (Injured Reserve)
Tight Ends
Mo Alie-Cox — 76
Jack Doyle — 75 (-2)
Trey Burton — 72
Noah Togiai — 60
Offensive Line
Quenton Nelson — 96
Anthony Castonzo — 85
Ryan Kelly — 82 (+2)
Braden Smith — 79
Mark Glowinski — 79
Le’Raven Clark — 65
Danny Pinter — 65
Chaz Green — 62
Defensive Line
DeForest Buckner — 95 (+1)
Justin Houston — 83
Denico Autry — 80
Grover Stewart — 77 (+1)
Al-Quadin Muhammed — 74
Sheldon Day — 72
Tyquan Lewis — 72 (+1)
Ben Banogu — 67
Taylor Stallworth — 66
Ron’Dell Carter — 60
Kemoko Turay — 76 (Injured Reserve)
Linebackers
Darius Leonard — 93
Anthony Walker — 81
Bobby Okereke — 77 (+2)
Zaire Franklin — 70
E.J. Speed — 66
Jordan Glasgow — 63
Matthew Adams — 64 (Injured Reserve)
Secondary
Kenny Moore III — 83
Xavier Rhodes — 77 (+2)
Rock Ya-Sin — 75
Julian Blackmon — 73 (+2)
Khari Willis — 72 (+2)
TJ Carrie — 70
George Odum — 68
Tavon Wilson — 66
Ibraheim Campbell — 64
Isaiah Rodgers — 63
Tremon Smith — 62
Malik Hooker — 70 (Injured Reserve)
Special Teams
Rigoberto Sanchez — 81
Luke Rhodes — 78
Rodrigo Blankenship — 75 (+1)
Biggest Climbers
Marcus Johnson
Johnson is not only proving he should be on the roster, but he should be getting serious reps with the first team. He has been performing very well in his limited time on the field and has made some big plays over the last couple of games. He deserves more playing time and is proving to be a good rotational player that the Colts can rely on this year and beyond.
Julian Blackmon
The rookie continues to make big plays, including the big interception at the end of the game to seal the win, and looks to be what we expected Malik Hooker to be. His impact has been tremendous and he should only get stronger. At this point, he’s just below the 75-79 tier just because of sample size, but he has the ability to climb close to the 80-84 tier by the time Week 10-11 rolls around.
Biggest Droppers
TY Hilton
The decline of Hilton continues.. After a good performance against the Browns, Hilton mustered up only 1 catch against the Bengals, which was thought to be a favourable matchup for him. He is not a serious deep threat and the yards he usually gets on short to intermediate routes has been replaced by Pascal and Burton. He needs to step it up as quickly as possible or else he might not finish the season as the #1 receiver on the Colts.
Jack Doyle
Doyle is another established Colts player who has not been himself and has not been as impactful as people hoped for. He’s had some bad drops and isn’t as dominant as an in-line blocker as he was in year’s past. He is now on the border of “average NFL player who won’t hurt you” and “average NFL player who should only be used in spurts”.