Colts’ Stock Up/Stock Down: Week 7

Stock Up

Jonathan Taylor

After a lost fumble on his first carry of the night, things were not looking good for Jonathan Taylor and his recent hot streak. Luckily for the Colts, their young superstar managed to put the mistake behind him and bounce back to have yet another game with over 100 scrimmage yards. Over the past 4 games, Taylor has 551 scrimmage yards on 73 touches (7.54 yards per touch) and 6 touchdowns.

Carson Wentz

Carson Wentz did not look as polished as he had looked in previous games, but we can attribute that to the weather making things more difficult than they should have been. While there were several turnover-worthy throws and a lost fumble in the redzone, Wentz led this offense to a victory, scoring 3 touchdowns while turning the ball only once. Since the Titans game, where he played on 2 bum ankles, Wentz has thrown 8 touchdowns, ran for 1, and lost the ball just twice on fumbles.

Chris Reed

With All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson coming back from his ankle injury, the situation with Chris Reed was an awkward one. Reed filled in admirably for Big Q and looked much better than anything I have seen from Glowinski over the past two seasons. It seems that Reich saw it that way too, as Reed got 44 snaps at right guard, compared to Glowinski’s 24.

Michael Pittman Jr.

MPJ cemented himself as the alpha dog in this receiver room, not only catching all 4 of his targets for 105 yards and a beautiful touchdown but also drawing two big pass interference flags that put the Colts in the redzone. Hopefully, T.Y is ready to go against the Titans and we can get a glimpse of the receiver duo.

Stock Down

Nyheim Hines

Lost in how well the offense has been playing is Nyheim Hines, who before the season looked like he was primed to make a leap. Hines’ specialty was never as a runner, but as a receiver, so it is worrying to see that over the past 3 games Hines has only 2 receptions for 7 yards, and he dropped what looked like a touchdown play against the 49ers. It also does not help his case that Marlon Mack has also been getting some touches, and Jordan Wilkins looks set to return to the mix.

Zach Pascal

After a hot start to the year and looking like the most reliable receiving weapon in the redzone, Pascal has sort of stepped back into the shadows. While his performance as a run blocker continues to be among the best in the NFL, his receiving output has not been there over the past 3 weeks. The return of T.Y to the mix and the rise of MPJ will probably help his case, as he will get much less attention.

Rodrigo Blankenship

After his hip injury cost the Colts a key game against the Baltimore Ravens and landed him on IR, Blankenship’s stock started to go down. Now it is probably at an all-time low, considering his replacement Michael Badgley has been perfect since signing with the Colts. Badgley’s performance and Blankenship’s injury concerns probably mean that at the very least there will be yet another battle for the starting kicker job, and hopefully the Colts make the right choice this time.