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.
Offensive Line
This is arguably the easiest part of this breakdown to write. The Colts offensive line is the best in the league and it’s not even close. As a unit, the Colts allowed 15 sacks last season, with Quenton Nelson not allowing a single sack for his second year. To this day in his NFL career, he hasn’t allowed a single sack.
Offensive Tackle:
Anthony Castanzo was signed to an extension in the offseason and will make him a Colt for the rest of his career. Castanzo has greatly improved his game in the past few seasons making him one of the best in the NFL right now. Allowing only 3 sacks last year and 5 hurries, he was one of the best in the league. The biggest improvement was only having two penalties against him which shows the commitment to clean, good football by Frank Reich and Chris Ballard.
On the right side of the lane is Braden Smith. Smith struggled in the sack column giving up 7 and allowing 9 hits. However, his strength comes in the running game. He’s able to anchor the right side of the line. Looking back at his film I saw his quick feet and he’s able to gain leverage easily and push back anyone on that side of the line. Tackles are a unique position in that they have to be fast, but bulky; quick, but steady on their feet.
Offensive Guard:
The Colts have the best guard in the league right now with Quenton Nelson. I don’t know what else to say but that the guy is an absolute monster at his position. Guard is a very important position in the passing game so the quarterback has a place to step up in the pocket on those deeper passing plays. Nelson is a player that is rock solid and the quarterback will always have a place to step up into the pocket. Given that Philip Rivers hasn’t had any kind of good protection in his career, I’m going to love seeing what Rivers can do with a good offensive line.
On the left side, we have Mike Glowinski. Glowinski has struggled against the pass in recent years but has been rock solid against the run. He allowed 3 sacks last year but helped the running game more than people saw. He’s a player that has ups and downs in his game but is always solid when he needs to be.
Center:
Ryan Kelly is another player who was drafted and is incredible. Kelly has been a solid player for his career and continues to prove the doubters wrong. Just like Jeff Saturday, the biggest criticism of his was his size. Kelly gave up just one sack last season but committed 10 penalties in crucial parts of the field. However, he’s still a solid player when he needs to be and makes the Colts line the best in the league for a reason.
Running Backs
Running backs are the most unique position on the Colts this year. I’d venture to say the group the Colts have this year have the potential to be the best group in the NFL this year.
Starters
Marlon Mack is the clear starter this year for the Colts. The team has moved from a passing first team to a run-first team with play-action passes to confuse the linebackers. When I think about Mack from 2019, I think about the Sunday night win against the Chiefs where the Colts ran it down their throat and kept Patrick Mahomes off the field to win the game. Last season, Mack had a 4.4 yards per carrying with 1,091 total yards on the ground. Mack also had almost 700 yards after the first contact – over 60% of his yardage – with an average of almost 3 yards after contact. Combine that with eight touchdowns, and Mack had a darn good season last year.
Nyheim Hines is another play I’d like to see on the field more in multi back sets. He caught 44 passes on 57 targets for 320 yards. What impressed me most about him was his ability to get up to full speed quickly. He had a 7.7 yard after the catch average with 312 coming after the catch. Meaning, he caught all of his passes as a check down and ran at least eight yards on every catch. Even better was his 15 first down catches to keep the drive going for the Colts.
Depth:
The newest addition is Jonathon Taylor, the rookie out of Wisconsin. Taylor is incredibly fast and can hit the hole so hard. He reminds me of Adrian Peterson as a younger man and more agile. He’s incredibly strong, fast, and quick. He’s going to be a great addition to a backfield that had plenty of talent last year. However, I do believe this spells the end for Jordan Wilkins in a Colts uniform and I believe the Colts go into this season with 3 running backs.
Wide Receivers
Wide Receiver is where the Colts have arguably made the most improvement from last year with Michael Pittman Jr being drafted in the second round. They retained Zac Pascal, T.Y. Hilton, Marcus Johnson, Chester Rogers, Deon Cain, and Parris Campbell.
Starters:
T.Y. Hilton will retain his spot as the X receiver on this team. Hilton played 10 games last year due to injury and in those games, he caught 45 passes on 67 targets for just over 500 yards with 5 touchdowns. He had an 11.1 yard per catch average with 220 yards after the catch; all career lows for the aging receiver.
Michael Pittman Jr. I believe will start for the Colts in 2020. The Colts desperately need a big body opposite of Hilton and Pittman is the guy to do it. The second-round pick out of USC is exactly what the Colts need out of a receiver right now. Pittman caught 101 passes for over 1,200 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2019 for the Trojans and got an invitation to the Senior Bowl.
Slot Receiver:
This is a position which is had to choose if I’m being honest. Zac Pascal played the most in the slot last year but Chester Rodgers played well too. However, I think it will ultimately go to Pascal because I don’t think you can keep him off the field. Pascal played all 16 games in the slot and had 155 snaps in the slot with 27 targets and 19 catches for 293 yards and 3 touchdowns. Pascal proved to be a valuable player last year when Hilton was out.
Depth:
I see the Colts keeping 5 receivers on the depth chart this year and I think they will keep Campbell and Rogers on the team.
Tight Ends
The Colts have a great and consistent tight end in Jack Doyle who always seems to be in the right place at the right time as well as Mo Alie-Cox in the running game.
Starters:
No surprise here. Jack Doyle is the starter for the Colts this year as he was last year. Doyle caught 43 passes on 61 targets with 448 receiving yards with 4 touchdowns and only dropped two passes. He had over a ten yard per catch ratio with 223 yards after the catch. Doyle has always been a great addition to the Colts offense and continues to be one of the best at running his routes.
Mo-Alie-Cox is a player who is a run blocker and is darn good at it. He helped the Colts offense be one of the better run-blocking teams in the NFL and the Colts are keeping him on the roster for the 202 seasons to help rookie Jonathon Taylor and the running back group to run through some holes. He’s also athletic and can make plays above the rim in the passing game.
Depth:
The Colts signed Trey Burton from Chicago as a depth signing. I don’t see him making a huge impact on the Colts offense this year, but the Colts will likely have three tight ends on the roster once the 2020 season begins, as Frank Reich loves having a good stable at the position.
Quarterbacks
Now for the main event, quarterback. The Colts have historically been one of the best at the position. I mean, besides Joe Montana to Steve Young, Drew Bledsoe to Tom Brady, who. can say they have 20+ years of excellent quarterback play from back-to-back players? It’s extremely hard to play the position and it’s even harder to hit on two players in succession as they did with Peyton Manning to Andrew Luck. However, the Colts went out and signed a savoy veteran who, I believe, still has something left in the tank.
Starter:
Philip Rivers will be the starter day one for the Colts. The one thing I don’t understand from Colts fans is the lack of self-awareness of this subject. All season long all I heard was how Brissett wasn’t aggressive enough with the ball and wouldn’t go down the field enough. Then when a quarterback is signed who just needed a top tier offensive line to give him time is signed they don’t like it? Rivers is exactly what this team needs right now: smart, aggressive, and a fire to win. Rivers came within one game of getting to the Super Bowl in 2014 and people forget how good his teams were in 2017 and 2018. He was an elite quarterback for 5-7 years and not to mention, he loves tight-ends and play-action passing which is exactly what the Colts need right now.
Depth:
The Colts will hold onto Brissett for this year and probably release him to free agency and Rivers will groom Jacob Eason to take over for one of the historically best franchises for quarterbacks. Good luck, Eason.