As a Colts fan, it pains me to write this. But it's the truth. The Colts are in NFL Purgatory: not bad enough to garner a top draft choice — the draft, by the way, takes place from April 27-29 in Kansas City, Missouri — but not serious contenders and this will continue next season.
But ever since the premature departure of Andrew Luck in 2018, the Colts have been the epitome of “middle of the pack.” The team has had the talent to win some games, but not enough to be true title contenders.
They haven't won a playoff game since 2018 and haven’t made the playoffs since 2020. While many fans point toward the lackluster quarterback play and the number of injuries sustained, there are inherent holes in the roster that must be filled for the Colts to be true title contenders.
Quarterbacks
Let’s start with the obvious: the quarterback situation is horrendous. After the failed Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan experiments, our quarterback room is lackluster at best. We only have washed-up Nick Foles and Sam Ehlinger.
But wait — don’t we have the No. 4 overall draft pick this year? Surely, we can get a great quarterback to pull us out of purgatory. It just won’t happen this year, though. The top two surefire quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft, University of Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State University’s C.J. Stroud, are likely going to be gone with the first two picks of the draft. So, for our pick, we must choose between Floriday University’s Anthony Richardson or the University of Kentucky’s Will Levis. While both have potential, they are seen as project QBs and won’t make an immediate impact. In the future, though, perhaps they can become Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson.
Lack of weapons
The NFL has turned into a weapons league. The need for good weapons has skyrocketed — and unless you have Patrick Mahomes — an average running back, wide receiver and tight end core will not get you there.
Jonathan Taylor is our best skill player. After several injuries in 2022, it seems like this upcoming season will be a rebound year. The WR core is highlighted by Michael Pittman JR, Alec Pierce and free agent acquisition Isaiah McKenzie. Our starting tight end is Mo Alie-Cox. This is in no way a competitive skill position core. Besides Taylor, the other players are complementary pieces at best. While some might point to Pittman Jr. as a number one, his stats and overall play style suit a complementary role, not a true number one WR.
Overall, our weapons are a dominant running back, a great second receiver option and a bunch of complementary guys. The lack of weapons is apparent, and even with a rookie added to the bunch, I cannot see this core making much noise this season. We need a true number one WR — otherwise, our offensive core is just mediocre.
The secondary
Our defense is exemplary. Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and linebacker Shaquille Leonard are two out-of-this-world defensive players, and the rest of our defense plays their part exceptionally. But we are losing a major face on the defense since Stephan Gilmore signed with the Dallas Cowboys. Losing a starting corner is big, and while Julian Blackmon is a stellar safety, our secondary lacks a reliable second starter. As the league grows more pass-heavy, corners are becoming more important, and the absence of one is huge. In the long run, it will hold our defense back.
Given the circumstances, our team has huge holes that cannot be fixed in one draft. While we do have some talent, the Colts are primed for another mediocre season this year.
