Predicting the Indianapolis Colts starting offensive depth chart.
This year, the Colts have a team that can go far in the playoffs. They committed to getting a roster together that can succeed and win games left and right.
The first and obvious glaring hole was at the receiver position and the lack of depth they had. It was clear that T.Y. Hilton couldn’t be the only target the Colts could rely on and other players such as Deon Cain and Zac Pascal weren’t ready to take on the WR2 role in the offense. Teams routinely drifted to Hilton’s side and forced the young players to make plays; sometimes they could and others they couldn’t. The receiver position has been a sore spot for the Colts since the departure of Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark after Andrew Luck was drafted. Eric Ebron, who I was excited for, played very well in 2018 but took a step back in 2019 to his old self in Detroit where he dropped passes.
The other hole wasn’t as obvious but was still an issue. Quarterback, and not just quarterback, but the quarterback play. Jacoby Brissett – outside of the Houston game – wasn’t aggressive and tended to play rather conservative and didn’t take shots downfield with the ball, something fans were very critical of throughout the season. My biggest critique of him was his lack of situational awareness. On third and nine he’d check it down and only get 3 yards when if he stepped out of the pocket a tight end was wide open 10 yards down the field.
My other critique was the lack of getting multiple running backs involved in the passing game. Nyheim Hines is one of my favorite players on the Colts right now and for good reason. The young running back has incredible speed and hands. He can run routes against safeties and can outplay a linebacker any day of the week. Not utilizing him in the passing game, or even play actions, was a big mistake to me. Hines was one of the best pass-catching running backs last year catching 90% of the passes thrown his way and only dropped 2, both of which were contested.
This year, though, they’ve filled the hole of aggressive quarterback play with a savoy veteran in Philip Rivers who, I still believe, has something left in the tank. They traded their first-round pick for DeForest Buckner, a young and rising star from a Super Bowl team who brings toughness and a winning mentality, and they went out and drafted Michael Pittman Jr. who I believe is one of the most underrated players in the draft this year. All of the problems I had with the offense last year has seemingly been solved – hopefully.
Here are my predictions for the starting lineup for the 2020 Colts on offense.