Indianapolis Colts: 2020 Quarterback situation through the draft

The Indianapolis Colts had a rough second half of the season and eventually, missing the playoffs by a few close games.

The Colts had a rough 2019 season. The start of the season saw a promising build on the leaps and bounds from last season. They had a great draft and the offensive line was much improved along with defensive rookie of the year, Darius Leonard returning in his mike linebacker role. Then the unthinkable happened. Andrew Luck called it quits and Colts nation booed him off the field.

To say the Colts had a rough 2019 season with an even tougher ending. Adding the cherry on top was Adam Vinatieri‘s woes which cost the Colts at least 5 wins and first place in the AFC South. But moving on from 2019 and looking forward to 2020, the biggest question is the quarterback position.

Led by Jacoby Brissett, the Colts went 5-2 in the first half of the season including a statement win against the Chiefs on Monday Night Football. The second half of the season saw a different story. The Colts went 2-7 with embarrassing losses against the Dolphins, Jaguars, and a 38-35 loss to the Buccaneers – a game which the Bucs turned the ball over 5 times.

As I see it, the Colts have three options:

Free Agency
Trades
Draft

In this article, I’m going to be focusing on the draft.

The first 5 picks of the 2020 draft boast teams that need quarterbacks: Bengals and Miami

The Andy Dalton show has lost its spunk in Cincinnati and the Dolphins are presumably going to try and find their franchise quarterback – also noted they have two first-round picks from the trade of Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Steelers. Tua Tagoviloa will also be entering the draft and might be a first round pick, if not first overall.

I think Tua is going to the Dolphins and then the next team who needs a quarterback is the Chargers at #6. This is where I think – if the draft falls the way I think – where Joe Burrow will go; so within the first 6 picks, the top 3 quarterbacks are off the board. This just leaves one more team that may or may-not go QB in the first round, and that’s the Las Vegas Raiders.

Derek Carr hasn’t been playing very well and needs someone to push him a little bit. Now the Raiders have more need on their defense rather than their offense, but it is a possibility they could take Justin Herbert or Jake Fromm and knowing what I know about the sophmore GM, Mike Mayock, he likes pocket passers and he’ll go with Jake Fromm. However, I think they’ll go defense in the first round.

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This leaves the Colts at 13 taking Jake Fromm. While Fromm is projected to be a second-round pick, I think the Colts should pull the trigger on him at 13. However, there are teams behind the Colts who don’t need a quarterback – I’ve been a big fan and supporter for Derrick Brown at 13, but it depends on how many quarterbacks go in the first round. But, let’s say the draft falls the way I say it will and the Colts get Fromm. What kind of player is he?

Fromm has been a starter at the University of Georgia since 2017. His first year as a starter he threw 2,615 yards and 24 touchdowns with 7 interceptions. However, he took 20 sacks but had a quarterback rating of 160 and over a 60% completion percentage.

In 2018 he threw nearly 2,700 yards with 30 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions with a nearly 70% completion percentage with a 171 QB rating. In 2019 he threw 2,860 yards to go along with 24 touchdowns and 5 interceptions with a 60% completion percentage and a 141 rating. Even more impressive is his picket awareness. He knows where the pressure is coming from and knows when to get rid of the ball and when to take a sack.

The biggest stat I think for him is his 90.6 completion rating off of the play-action pass. The Colts are trying to be a run-first team with their big offensive line and their big-bodied receivers. They also run a lot of play actions and like the single back with two tight ends on the field leaving 2 more targets for the quarterback to throw to.

Also, the Colts seem to have been going with the intermediate throws – even at the behest of the fans – and Fromm has the highest rating for intermediate throws with a 92.6 rating. What’s also impressive is his over 90% completion rating with no pressure put on him. So if you give him time to throw the ball he’s able to progress and make smart decisions with the football.

With all that being said, there are some critiques of him. Jacoby Brissett is a player that needs the lead to play very well and if you ask him to put the game on his shoulders, he crumbles – Tampa Bay, second Houston game, Jacksonville games, Denver.

Fromm is playing in a run-first offense which hasn’t asked him to win games with his arm throughout his career in college. What’s also apparent is his anxiety while progressing. If his first read is open it’s a laser, but when he has to go through his progressions his accuracy isn’t as good.

Now that’s either coaching in the NCAA or it could be a habit he has. But on first reads he’s accurate, and he knows how to place the ball where it needs to be for the receiver to catch the ball. Another strength is he already has nearly 500 snaps under his belt in his career too.

I’ve been a Brissett fan ever since he was thrust into the starting role, but as my article a few weeks ago stated, it’s getting exhausting defending the Colts as a top team in the NFL. The Colts need to put up more points – it also wouldn’t help to have a kicker who didn’t miss extra points and field goals.

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With all that being said, Fromm is the only first-round quarterback talent that I think will fit into the offense they have currently. If Fromm goes early in the draft, then I’d rather Chris Ballard and Frank Reich take a defensive player such as Derrick Brown or a linebacker to pair with Okereke and Leonard.

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