Here are three players the Colts wish they still had on their current roster.
In just three years’ time, Colts general manger Chris Ballard has managed to take a poorly-constructed roster and morph it into one of the deepest in the NFL.
With a collection of stellar draft picks — including Darius Leonard, Quenton Nelson, Braden Smith and Anthony Walker, to name a few — Ballard has proven that throwing bloated salaries at free agents normally isn’t the right way to go about his line of business.
The Colts GM’s resume was only bolstered this past April when he nabbed running back Jonathan Taylor and wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. with his first two picks, both of which came in the early stages of the second round.
Love Michael Pittman Jr. Asked him abt blocking in the running game and he said "my dad was a running back and hearing him talk about guys like Keyshawn...I want guys like Jonathan Taylor to talk about me the same way."
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) September 22, 2020
This kid gets it.
However, for as many boxes Ballard has checked since being appointed GM back in 2017, he’s also had a fair share of swings and misses. That’s to be expected, though. No executive in any sport is without blemishes.
With that being said, there are some players, whether they were traded away or not re-signed, who the Colts could really use right now on their current roster. Here are the top three that stick out among the rest.
3. Jabaal Sheard
The Colts could really use Jabaal Sheard’s pass rushing prowess this year.
The only reason Jabaal Sheard doesn’t land higher on this list is because he’s still a free agent, so he’s technically available to be re-signed by the Colts. However, that’s also extremely unlikely after Ballard chose to let him walk this past offseason.
It’s difficult to jump to conclusions about Indianapolis’ pass rush through just two games, but the early signs suggest they could use an experienced veteran with a track record of pressuring opposing quarterbacks. Prior to 2020, Sheard spent the last three seasons with the Colts, across which was a consistent disruptor, tallying 127 tackles (28 for loss), 15.5 sacks and 36 QB hits.
Those are solid numbers, and they can’t help but spark the “what if” questions about what things would be like if Indianapolis had chosen to keep him around. The mental picture of a defensive line featuring Justin Houston, DeForest Buckner and Sheard is as exciting as it is daunting, and we’ll unfortunately never know how dominant they could have been together.