Colts Fans and Stampede Blue Community Q&A - Week 14 ANSWERS

Colts fans and Stampede Blue readers can submit their Colts questions to have a chance of them being answered in our Q&A.

Missed out this time? Don’t worry, you can get involved next time by submitting a question when the Q&A post goes up in the comments section, in the Twitter replies or on the Facebook post comments.

Let’s jump straight into this week’s questions:

Ex Chargers Fans (Stampede Blue Comments): If Rivers is brought back next season, what will the backup QB situation look like? Does it mean Brissett will automatically be shown the door? Will Eason be the definite #2 or would they look for an experienced backup for #17? If Brissett goes, which QB’s out there (or type of QB) would give the Colts the best chance to win in case an ageing, immobile QB goes down?

Answer: If Rivers is brought back then it would seemingly close the door for a potential Brissett return as the Colts would be tying up too much money in the up at the quarterback position for another year with so many potential free agents and young talents on the roster needing extensions. The back up quarterback position would likely then come down to Jacob Eason who would be in his second year in the NFL or a quarterback not currently on the roster. If the Colts were to re-sign Rivers it would seemingly rule out signing a free agent, but would mean the team would either stick with Eason or draft a quarterback.

Joe Train Wreck (Stampede Blue Comments): Wentz, anyone?

Answer: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz has been heavily linked with joining the Colts by the media since his struggles occurred this season. The media have linked Wentz to the Colts via an offseason trade to reunite him with Frank Reich who was his offensive coordinator and quarterback coach in Philadelphia before Reich left to be the Colts head coach. There are many issues with the idea; the first is the compensation needed to trade for a quarterback the Eagles spent so much draft capital on and secondly having to take on the massive contract that Wentz comes with. The Eagles will most likely want a decent return in terms of compensation for Wentz in any trade. Wentz contract the next four years has an average of $32 million a year in yearly salary. Also if Wentz is traded the Eagles would take on a hefty $33.8 million in dead money. It makes theoretical sense due to the link between Wentz and Reich but logistically it makes zero sense for the Colts to trade draft capital and take on Wentz huge contract for a quarterback who has been playing poor ever since his 2017 season. Chris Ballard is a very smart general manager and trading for Wentz wouldn’t be a smart move.

Protect 12 (Stampede Blue Comments): In 6 of the last 8 games, the defense has been terrible in the 1st half and really good in the 2nd half...to the tune of 144-48 for the opposition. I find it hard to believe they’re not motivated starting the game, considering all the high character guys on D. Eberflus makes great adjustments at the half. But IMO he either makes bad or no in game adjustments. Do you have any insight into why this has become a regular occurrence? It won’t fly in the playoffs.

Answer: The players have actually spoken about the issues between 1st half defense and the 2nd half defense. According to the defensive players they come out very hyped up for the game in the first half and over hype up the game leading to poor play. However, in the second half the defense settles down and plays a lot better to finish out the game. This however can’t carry on as the Colts will eventually find themselves in too big of a hole to be able to get out of in the second half. If the Colts can replicate the second half defense earlier in the game they will be on to a winner,

Lucky Jock Strap (Stampede Blue Comments): Do you believe Ballard will use this off season to sign Nelson and Leonard to long term contracts? He likes to reward his own, but there’s advantages and disadvantages to both. One on side, he doesn’t need to since Nelson isn’t up for a new contract until 2023 and Leonard in 2022. On the other hand if he waits too long their contracts keep going up.

Answer: Quenton Nelson is only in the third year of his contract so if the team does decide to give him a contract extension it would be likely after his fifth year as it makes sense to let him play on his rookie deal for longer and pick up his relatively cheap fifth year option than sign him to a big contract extension. My guess is Ballard will treat Nelson’s contract similarly to how he handled Ryan Kelly’s, pick up his fifth year option then sign him to an extension. Darius Leonard on the other hand is a former second round pick so doesn’t have a fifth year option in his contract so it would make sense to sign him to a contract extension this off-season while the team is flush with cap space and before he adds even more to his already high value.