According to Sporting News, Indianapolis Colts general manager Ryan Grigson is the 24th rated general manager in the NFL. After the Colts slipped to 8-8 last season, missing the playoffs for the first time under Grigson’s tenure, his ranking significantly dropped from 10th overall:
"24. Ryan Grigson, Colts"
"Grigson has become a hard GM to evaluate, because his early boom with Andrew Luck and mining of unheralded draft talent has been matched with the bust of Trent Richardson and not getting enough around Luck. Indy made some strides to protect what’s now a huge investment in Luck, but it also has taken some hits for Chuck Pagano’s defense. The power struggle seems resolved for now, but there’s no doubt Grigson has gone from cool customer to hot seat."
Of course, the general manager’s 1st round draft pick struggles have been well-documented, as he traded the Colts 2014 1st round pick for bust running back Trent Richardson, having selected another 1st round bust Bjoern Werner just a year earlier.
Not to mention, he’s struggled through free agency in shoring up the Colts offensive line, signing free agent failures such as Samson Satele, Gosder Cherilus, Donald Thomas, and Todd Herremans–none of whom are still with the team.
As a result, the Colts offensive line has continued to struggle blocking for franchise quarterback Andrew Luck and the rest of the offense. When he’s played, Luck has been one of the league’s leaders in undertaking QB hits. The Colts were 2nd in the NFL with the most allowed QB hits with 118 total QB hits this past season.
However, to his credit, Grigson has appeared to finally right a wrong, having selected 1st round center Ryan Kelly in this year’s NFL Draft, who appears to have all of the makings of an elite player at the position for years to come. He didn’t stop there, drafting 3 additional offensive lineman with his remaining picks.
It’s worth noting that despite some of his 1st round failures, Grigson has also drafted a handful of promising young starters such as offensive guard Jack Mewhort, wide receiver Donte Moncrief, and defensive end Henry Anderson among others in recent seasons.
Additionally, his 2012 offseason trade of a 2nd round pick for cornerback Vontae Davis was a thing of beauty, as the 28 year old cornerback has developed into a 2x Pro Bowler and become one of the best players at his position with the Colts.
Having signed Andrew Luck to a long-term team friendly deal this offseason, the Colts offense appears to be in good shape for the foreseeable future. However, it’s on the other side of the football, where the Colts could clearly use an infusion of young talent.
The team appears to have hit a home run with Anderson as mentioned, who was among the league’s top defensive rookies before suffering a season-ending torn ACL near midseason.
It also looks like young players such as Clayton Geathers and David Parry could become long-term starters at their respective positions as well. However, the team will need other young players like rookie 2nd round safety T.J. Green to develop sooner rather than later because the defense is littered with aging veteran starters.
Specifically, Mike Adams (35), Robert Mathis (35), Trent Cole (33), D’Qwell Jackson (32), and even Erik Walden (30) are all expected to assume starting roles or at least play significant snaps for the defense this upcoming season.
It’s an old defense that will need some replacements in the immediate future, which means the Colts ability to develop defensive talent will be of the utmost importance going forward.
There’s no question that Grigson has ridden the enormous success of his initial 2012 NFL Draft class with the likes of Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, and Dwayne Allen this far with inconsistent results otherwise.
However, as one of the younger general managers in football at 44 years old, he’s also shown a willingness to learn from his mistakes, at least as demonstrated by his actions this offseason.
That being said, he’ll have to learn to better co-exist with head coach Chuck Pagano, as an organization is only as strong as its top leadership and any dysfunction tends to trickle downward to the rest of the team.
Chemistry will be key, although it doesn’t appear that Grigson or Pagano’s job is an any immediate danger, as both men are signed through 2019.
Next: PFF Ranks Colts as Having NFL’s 16th Best Offensive Line
Nevertheless, the Colts have to continue to improve their overall roster around Luck, namely on the defensive side of the football. Grigson clearly has his work cut out for him, but there’s a good chance he improves this ranking after the upcoming season–particularly with a healthy Luck for a full year.