What We Learned: Colts OTAs and Minicamp Edition

The Indianapolis Colts have completed their organized team activities and minicamp for the offseason. The next we’ll see the team together, they’ll be in Anderson for training camp. But that won’t happen for six weeks.

Today, we look back at what’s happened over the past six weeks and what it might mean going forward. The Colts spent the offseason making big moves to improve the team, and so far they look to be paying off.

While championships are never won in the offseason, it is hard not to like what the Colts have done to improve the team. All the short term deals for talented veterans have fans feeling good about their team heading into the 2015 season.

Here’s what we’ve learned during OTAs:

Phillip Dorsett is fast. Like crazy fast. The fastest fast that ever fasted, or something like that. Point being is that the people watching practices were consistently impressed with his speed, which says something considering T.Y. Hilton is a burner too.
Robert Mathis is a question mark. He insists he’ll be ready for training camp, but Jim Irsay doesn’t believe so. Earlier in the offseason, Irsay even said he might not be back till November (but that was a worst case scenario). An Achilles injury is never easy to recover from, but Chuck Pagano has faith that Mathis will come back and be productive this season.
The defensive line got bigger. Kendall Langford and Henry Anderson are apparently giants (according to the IndyStar’s Gregg Doyel). The problem is that these are players who need to have the pads on and be hitting people to truly evaluate the impact they’ll have on the field. We probably won’t know until the first preseason game against the Eagles on August 16.
Rookie Clayton Geathers has impressed. The safety has taken a surprising number of reps with the first team defense and hasn’t disappointed. He’s a hard hitting safety and another player who benefits from wearing pads and full contact play. Pagano also said they have some packages to get him on the field and he played linebacker in the dime package at times.
Andrew Luck is incredible. At least according to his new teammates (and people with eyes), Andre Johnson and Frank Gore. He’s easily the best QB either has played with, and Johnson called him the best in the NFL (although Johnson’s bar for QBs isn’t very high). Gore is looking forward to facing fewer eight man boxes, something he saw more than any other running back in the NFL last season.
Donte Moncrief has been quiet. With all the focus on Johnson and Dorsett, Moncrief sounds like the odd man out. We haven’t heard much about him, save for a nice catch here or there. Logic says he should have the inside track for the third wide receiver spot, but Dorsett has gotten a lot of attention. Moncrief gives the Colts a different skill set and with more NFL experience than Dorsett (and Duron Carter), Moncrief should have a solid season in 2015.
The team is ahead of schedule. Pagano insists that this team is far ahead of any other he’s coached at this point in the year. It is also the best roster he’s had in his tenure in Indy. The players are all buying into the goal and seem to be meshing well together.
Healthy. The Colts made it through OTAs without any new injuries, which might be a first for the team. A number of players are still recovering (Mathis, Todd Herremans, Nate Irving, Gosder Cherilus, Donald Thomas) but at least half of them should be ready for camp.
Contracts are still up in the air. T.Y. Hilton is due for a fairly large payday, but the team is going to wait until after the season. That sounds like the case for most of the 2012 draft class. The Colts are focusing on a championship run and no one seems to be upset with contract situations going forward.
Luck’s future contract will be huge. Cam Newton just inked a $103 million deal with $60 million guaranteed. By every measure, Luck is a better QB than Newton (and don’t say Newton is a better athlete, he has all the same measurables as Luck). With a deal like that, Luck can command a contract north of $120 million. That will put the Colts into cap hell, but it will be well worth the cost. Life in the NFL without a good QB is lonely and sad (see: Jaguars).
The Colts will hold a joint practice in camp with the Bears. I can’t recall a time when the team has done this before, but it should be interesting. They’ll practice in Indianapolis on Aug. 19 and 20 before facing each other on the 22nd during the preseason.

We’ll be keeping you up to date on the slow trickle of news on the Colts as the offseason marches on. The good news? Only nine more Sundays until something resembling real football is on TV.

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