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The Indianapolis Colts failed to fully impress last year. An accumulation of injuries, poor quarterback play, and an overall below-par showing on offense ended with the Colts going 7-9 and missing the playoffs. However, during the off-season, the Colts have put in major work to not only improve the roster but to make sure the team doesn’t have another disappointing season similar to 2019.
The Colts added talent to the roster via free agency, the draft, and even made a big splash on the trade market. All this improvement has made the Colts a perfect choice to go from “zero” to “hero”. Some experts have even listed the team as having one of the best offseasons.
Adam Schein of NFL.com is definitely on the Indianapolis Colts bandwagon and wasn’t afraid to voice it, naming the Colts as one of nine teams whose bandwagon should be getting pretty full. He wrote:
5. Indianapolis Colts
If I had to give each team’s offseason an emoji, Indianapolis would get Heart-Eyes. This is true love, people.
It’s not just that the Colts cleaned up in the draft. (Though GM Chris Ballard certainly did that, snagging a perfect receiving complement to T.Y. Hilton in Michael Pittman and an instant Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate in RB Jonathan Taylor.) It’s the fact that the Colts cleaned up in the draft after rightly trading their first-round pick for the great DeForest Buckner, who’ll immediately anchor Matt Eberflus’ defensive front.
Oh, and they signed a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Philip Rivers, who has a great chance to bounce back from a disappointing 2019 now that he’s playing behind the best offensive line in football. The Colts bandwagon is rolling right into the playoffs as a product of brilliant design.
It is hard to disagree with Schein. The Colts have done everything to try and ensure there isn’t a repeat of the 2019 disappointment. The Colts were poor at the quarterback position so the team went out and signed a future Hall of Famer in Phillip Rivers then doubled down at the position by drafting Washington quarterback Jacob Eason. The team sure saw the position as in need of upgrading and they did just that.
An injury-plagued wide receiver depth chart was given a boost by a healthy TY Hilton heading into 2020, the draft addition of a top tier talent at wide receiver in Michael Pittman and the return from injury in Daurice Fountain could too give the group the added boost they need to take a step up from 2019.
The Colts rushing attack in 2019 was borderline elite so what’s the best way to improve a top tier rushing attack? How about drafting the best running back in college who has produced every year in college and put up insane numbers. The Colts did just that when they drafted Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor. Taylor’s addition should help take the Colts rushing attack to elite status and elevate pressure off Marlon Mack’s shoulders in the process.
On the defensive side of the ball the Colts added an All-Pro defensive tackle and will return nine of eleven starters on defense, Pierre Desir was cut and Jabaal Sheard wasn’t resigned. The defensive line gets a huge boost in the addition of DeForest Buckner, the return from injury in pass rusher Kemoko Turay, the continued development of Grover Stewart, and the veteran presence of Justin Houston.
The Linebacking core returns all three starters in All-Pro linebacker Darius “The Maniac” Leonard, Anthony Walker, and promising talent in Bobby Okereke who shined as a rookie. The Cornerback group swapped out veteran corners when they cut Pierre Desir and signed former Minnesota Viking Xavier Rhodes. The group sees a return of a top 5 nickel cornerback in the league in Kenny Moore II, promising young corners in Rock Ya-Sin, who shown late in the season, and Marvell Tell III, who switched from college safety to NFL Corner in his rookie year and showed promise. The Safety group returns both starters in former first-round pick Malik Hooker and standout rookie Khari Willis, add in rookie Justin Blackmon, who was an exciting talent for Utah, and special teams standout George Odum, and the group is looking very well-rounded.
The Colts lost very little in the offseason but added a ton of talent. therefore there is plenty of reason to think the Colts go from zero to hero and plenty of room and reason to jump on the team’s bandwagon.