Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Chuck Pagano spoke to the media this morning at the AFC Coaches Breakfast during the league meetings and offered several tidbits on what fans can expect heading into the 2015 season.
Among the biggest, Pagano told reporters that his defense will rely heavily on its young defensive lineman like Montori Hughes, Zach Kerr, and perhaps Kelcy Quarles to fill the prominent roles once occupied by departed key veteran players like Cory Redding and Ricky Jean-Francois:
Calling on Chapman, Montori Hughes, Zach Kerr and others to step up. "They have no choice," Pagano said. A lot of faith in some young guys
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) March 24, 2015
As @HolderStephen points out, Chuck Pagano adamant that the Colts are going to have to rely on young DL (Kerr, Quarles, Hughes, Pendleton).
— Kevin Bowen (@KBowen1070) March 24, 2015
It seems like a significant leap of faith for the Colts, as those players were backups on a defensive line that just got blasted by the New England Patriots yet again in this year’s embarrassing AFC Championship loss, to the tune of 148 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns by Patriots powerback LeGarrette Blount.
There’s no doubt that some of the team’s young defensive lineman can improve and be further developed, but to me, it seems like a position where most players can generally make a significant impact right away if they’re that good, a lot like the running back position. I don’t doubt that some of the young defensive lineman like Hughes and Kerr can improve, but can they make a significant jump to be more than just rotational defensive lineman on a Super Bowl contending defense? Can they become true impact players?
That’s the million dollar question for the Colts right now, as they maintain that stopping the run is the top priority for their defense:
Stopping the run in '14, Pagano says, was "our Achilles heel." Gotta get it fixed. Period.
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) March 24, 2015
Among other notable revelations by Pagano was that the team will likely look to have a starting center competition between 3rd-year pro Khaled Holmes and his 2nd-year center counterpart in Jonotthan Harrison:
Chuck Pagano says the center position will have great competition in 2015. Mentions Khaled Holmes and Jonotthan Harrison as the leading duo.
— Kevin Bowen (@KBowen1070) March 24, 2015
It’s a bit peculiar considering that Harrison was ultimately benched for Holmes late in the season, to not just name the latter the starter entirely. Holmes wasn’t great by any means, but he did show some promise and was clearly the better option than the struggling Harrison. However, perhaps the team is simply looking to challenge Holmes this offseason to bring out his best play and production, whereas he remains the unspoken favorite to actually win the job.
Additionally, Pagano hinted that the Colts may still look to bring in another free agent veteran safety to compete for the starting job alongside Mike Adams. Currently, the team has no starting caliber safeties really on the roster, so any potential signing would figure to be the heavy favorite to win the job outright:
Pagano on the other safety spot: “We will find somebody. There’s still a couple of bodies out there in free agency that we can look at."
— Kevin Bowen (@KBowen1070) March 24, 2015
Among the more attractive veteran free agent safeties still available are Dawan Landry, Jim Leonhard, Danieal Manning, and Bernard Pollard. We’ll see if the Colts look to sign another veteran “Mike Adams-like reclamation project“, or whether this is actually a smokescreen to target a safety early in this year’s draft.
Surprisingly, no one asked Pagano during his breakfast if he could pass the orange juice…
Jul 24, 2014; Anderson, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano coaches on the field during training camp at Anderson University. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports