Indianapolis Colts Offseason WorkBook 2019

Indianapolis Colts

2018 Record: (10-6) 2^nd AFC South   

2018 Season Recap:

Offense

Points: 27.1 (5^th)

Yards: 386.2 (7^th)

Pass Yards: 278.8 (6^th)

Rush Yards: 107.4 (20^th)

Defense

Points:  21.5 (10^th)

Yards: 339.4 (11^th)

Pass Yards: 237.8 (16^th)

Rush Yards: 101.6 (8^th)

After seeing one of the worst situations (in 2017) to hit this organization since they traded away Peyton Manning - (Andrew Luck’s Injury & Josh McDaniels shunning), the Colts managed to hire a head coach in Frank Reich who could organize and inspire this group to move forward. With his star quarterback a severe unknown heading into 2018, everything was again up in the air.

Thankfully for the Colts and their fan base, Luck managed to defy all odds and after over 400 days in recovery, Indianapolis could start moving forward with this new coaching regime.

While many criticized and scoffed as the Colts started the season with a 1-5 record pushing their year back into the dumpster fire category, Frank Reich corralled his troops and managed to bring them altogether. The defining moment came in week 7 when the Colts handled the Buffalo Bills with ease, showing creativity and prowess which was the catalyst in saving their season.

Over the course of the final 9 games of the season, the Colts managed to clutch and grab their way back to an astonishing 9-1 record from week 8 on, which was extremely impressive. During that time, Andrew Luck found his stride and again proved he was fully healed and ready to take on any challenge that came his way.

Finding their way back into the postseason, the Colts would face a familiar foe in division rival – the Houston Texans. Making quick work of Houston with a strong offensive showing, the Colts had the toughest task in travelling to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Chiefs. While hopes were high, the inevitable happened where the Colts were simply outmatched by a team with too much power.

Still a great successful campaign for Indianapolis and one they will surly build from.      

 

  

2019 Offseason WorkBook:

The Coaching Staff

While the news of trying to find the right head coach and coaching staff was a buzz last offseason, it’s nice for Colts-Nation to not have to deal with that same situation this year.

With Frank Reich the clear choice to keep this ship moving, minimal coaching moves transpired with specialty fires and hires highlighting the headlines. Roughly the same staff that took the Colts back to the playoffs will get their chance at doing even more damage. 

 

The Offense

As mentioned above, perhaps the greatest achievement from the past season was Andrew Luck’s ability to remain the course and overcome his severe shoulder injury. With that now in the rear-view, we can now sing the praises of what Luck was actually able to accomplish this past season. Andrew played absolutely magnificent in 2018 showing career highs and near career highs in every category. Under Reich he improved his completion percentage to almost 70% while throwing for 4593 yards and 39 touchdowns. 

It was clear that the biggest difference, which was also the largest contributor to this success, was the play of this offensive line. Luck only hit the turf a mere 18 times for playing a full 16 games, which is the best result in his career also. Quenton Nelson was the driving force to improve this entire unit, and with Luck not having to worry about protection, the outlook for the 2019 season looks to have potential off the charts for the passing attack.

While the running back situation in Indy always receives some level of discussion in our circle, the topic always become dictated to understand what type of player Marlon Mack really is. While Mack did have a solid campaign piling up numbers while missing 4 contests on the season, something seems to be lacking for us to provide a gleaming endorsement. Outside of Mack, Nyheim Hines was one of our absolute favorite players coming out of the draft at the running back position, knowing he would make a strong difference in the pass game. Having that type of outlet for Luck to find under pressure is invaluable. If the Colts chose to upgrade the room, Mack would be the best handcuff in the NFL.  

While the Colts continue to try and find an appropriate complement to their star TY Hilton, they continuously seem to strikeout leaving him to fend off constant double teams. Outside of Hilton, this positional group is extremely thin and requires a talent infusion like no other. Chester Rogers showed some flash, but couldn’t find his overall game, while last year’s rookie potential (Deon Cain) was lost for the year to an injury. Adding to this group is a top priority.  

While the Colts lacked overall stability at the receiver position, they excelled with generating production from the tight end spot. Signing former Detroit Lions first round pick (Eric Ebron) to the fold turned out to be a stroke of genius for the club. Ebron saw career highs in almost every category while becoming the second leading pass catcher on the team. He will undoubtedly be a vocal point for this offense moving forward.   

The Defense

While the past has shown the Colts to have one of the weaker defensive groups in the NFL, the 2018 season was a breath of fresh air for this unit.

Since taking over as the team’s general manager in 2017, Chris Ballard has continued to make sound decisions to help build this defense back to levels of respectability. Many scoffed when the Colts selected line backer Darius Leonard out of South Carolina State, but the season he was able to put together should go down as one of the best in NFL history for a rookie. While leading the group almost instantly, Leonard was able to muster an incredible 163 tackles, 7 sacks, 4 fumbles, while adding 2 interceptions. Drafting Leonard literally lifted the entire outlook of this defense to great heights. With Leonard leading this group into the 2019 season, we have no doubt that any addition will only rise with him.

Defensive line play has been something of an issue for quite some time as the Colts can’t seem to find the appropriate dominating talent. While Sheard, Hunt, and Autry all played admirably this past season, there is no one that would make the argument that this group is polished enough to remain as a unity for the new year. Denico Autry proved he could find new levels of success after coming to Indy from the Raiders and could be the most important piece to this line. Outside of that, upgrading the unit as whole should be on the menu.

When we review the Colts secondary and what they were able to achieve this past season, the core was more solid then we gave them credit for during the season. Clayton Geathers and Malik Hooker anchored the backend to near perfection rarely being caught out of position. With those two manning the center of the field, Kenny Moore showed great flash proving he indeed had strong value in his own right. While adding more talent and adequate depth to round out this room would be recommended, their play together should allow the Colts brain trust to fill other holes before adding here.

Team Free Agents / Team Salary Cap

When a team excels and makes it back to the postseason while employing a franchise quarterback, nothing gets us more excited to when the teams cap situation is as marvelous as this one.

Indianapolis currently holds an incredible 105 million (+$105,818,186) in free cap space (yes you read that right) and can literally move and build in any direction they chose. Holding a mere 23 team free agents vying for the opportunity to return to the club, we feel the Colts will almost allow all to walk to the open market. With Ryan Grant, Clayton Geathers virtually being the only top names from this unrestricted list, the Colts may choose to simply move on an upgrade.

While normally its our process to review players that could be viewed as potential cut casualties, but in this case that would be a pointless task given the amount of room the Colts have to work with. We can truly see Indianapolis becoming big players on March.13 when the league year opens. With rumors that LeVeon Bell could make his way to the club, that might only be the tip of the iceberg in what transactions are made.

The NFL Draft

The mantra of the rich get richer could be used for the Colts when looking at their draft board as it sits today. Currently the Colts possess a healthy 9 selections in this year’s class, while housing an extra 2^nd and 4^th picks to round out their board.

Having 4 picks in the top 89, Indy has great leverage to control the draft and navigate as they please. In our eyes there is nothing better than a team with immense cap room, having high end talent already on the roster, and holding great draft capital to build the roster.

The Colts could truly move in any direction with this draft class and know it will be added talent to make them that much stronger. This team is definitely on the rise.