Colts 2019 free agents: Ryan Grant

It’s time to start looking at this year’s free agent class and see who the Colts might want to bring back for next year and beyond. There are 14 unrestricted free agents, and we start at the wide receiver position.

Ryan Grant was one of the free agents that was signed last offseason. He was signed to a one year deal to see if he could prove his worth to the team. It was also a sign that the Colts didn’t fully trust his ability to stay healthy after he had injury problems a year ago.

Those concerns ultimately revealed to be valid. Grant missed two games in the regular season and both of the postseason games. Though even when he was on the field, he made very little impact on the game. He only scored one touchdown all year long and had just 334 receiving yards.

Grant was brought in to be the number two receiver opposite of T.Y. Hilton. It was thought that Grant could help take attention away from Hilton. That proved to not be the case. Grant was targeted steadily through week 6. After that, he was sparingly looked at.

A big reason for that is Grant wasn’t able to get open. He couldn’t get separation from the defensive backs to get the ball. Andrew Luck decided Grant wasn’t reliable so he looked elsewhere. Grant was one of the many pass catchers who struggled with drops.

The Colts will probably move on from Grant in the offseason. He showed nothing to the coaching staff that would make them think he can help them moving forward. It was a good move by Chris Ballard to give Grant a one year tryout deal to see if he could stick.

That means the Colts will be looking for a better wide receiving option to pair with T.Y. Hilton. There might be some good options in free agency and the draft. But it’s almost all but certain that Grant will be playing for another team in 2019.