According to new prized nose tackle Johnathan Hankins, the Indianapolis Colts are now probably the ‘best team in the AFC’.
On the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, Hankins believes the Colts can become one of the conference’s best defenses:
"“Right now, I feel like we got probably the best defense in the AFC,” said Hankins. “On paper, it looks good, but we’ve got to go out there and prove it. We’ve got a great quarterback here, as y’all know, Andrew Luck, and some great weapons on offense. So, if we can just come together during OTAs, and once training camp starts, get a good feel of everybody and just trust each other, I feel like we’ll be real dominant out there.”"
There’s something to be said for being confident, and to Hankins’ credit, this re-tooled Colts defense should be an improvement over last year’s historically awful unit (it would be hard-pressed not to).
At the same time, the Colts will still be starting two talented, yet inexperienced rookies: safety Malik Hooker and cornerback Quincy Wilson, and still do not have a bonafide ‘blue chip’ pass rusher off the edge–as veteran free agent additions Jabaal Sheard and John Simon are more ‘energy and effort’ than ‘pure’ as pass rushers.
Not to mention, the Colts inside linebacker corps has some question marks as well. While Sean Spence should start at one of the spots, the Colts are otherwise counting on rookie Anthony Walker Jr. or returning inside linebackers such as Edwin Jackson or Antonio Morrison.
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If nothing else, the Colts defense should be improved because they’ve gotten younger and more talented in their secondary, linebacker corps, and simply better at nose tackle with Hankins.
Nevertheless, the Colts defense is more than likely to be ‘middle of the pack’ in the AFC (at best) because there are still some presumable growing pains with what should be a young defense–particularly in the secondary.