The Colts have plenty of good players on the roster now. But of those players, which is the one that would be missed the most if they were unavailable?
Andrew Luck is obviously the most valuable player on this team. We saw what happened when he wasn’t healthy and a part of this team. It didn’t end well. But besides Luck, which player would the Colts suffer the most without? It’s an interesting question to consider.
Anthony Castonzo was that player early on last season. He didn’t come back until week 5 of the season after missing most of training camp. But the Colts offense still put up enough points without his services, so it can’t be him. It might not even be another offensive lineman.
The Colts don’t have any reliable receiving threats besides T.Y. Hilton. Hilton was hampered in the playoffs last season, so you saw what that did to the Colts’ ability to throw it down the field. Against a good team like the Chiefs, it was debilitating to their chances to win.
Hilton is a pretty good answer to this question, but it might not be the best one. If the Colts lost the best player on their defense, how good would they be? Would they be able to stop other offenses from driving up and down the field and scoring all kinds of points?
My answer would be no. So that makes Darius Leonard already the most irreplaceable player besides Luck. Leonard is the leader of the defense and makes so many plays for them. If he were to miss an extended amount of time, it would crater the whole Colts defense.
Hopefully, the Colts don’t have to go any time without any of these guys. But it is something interesting to think about for depth purposes.