Colts: ESPN analyst’s commentary on Indy will get fans pumped up
By Mike Luciano
The Indianapolis Colts are eyeing a division title after losing to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round, which prompted general manager Chris Ballard to acquire Carson Wentz via trade to shake things up at quarterback.
Despite the fact that Frank Reich and the Colts have plenty of veterans on this team looking for a shot at a ring, Indy is one of the younger teams in the AFC, with stars like Quenton Nelson, Darius Leonard, Jonathan Taylor, and Braden Smith all still on their rookie contracts.
The Colts will have plenty of competition coming down the road in 2021, as the AFC features more than a half-dozen teams that could conceivably take home a championship at the end of this year.
Even with all of that parity, ESPN’s Louis Riddick is a firm believer in what Reich and Ballard are building.
Riddick, appearing on ESPN’s “Get Up!,” claimed that not only does he believe Indianapolis can do some damage next year with Wentz as the quarterback, but he thinks that the Colts should be set up quite nicely for the next few years given the way the roster is constructed.
He even called them the biggest threat to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
https://twitter.com/GetUpESPN/status/1382757741832380420?s=20
The Colts have a solid structure that could help them win, and Louis Riddick is a believer.
The Wentz contract will take up a ton of Ballard’s precious cap space, but this team is still poised to add to an already stout roster, with Leonard leading an aggressive defense and the Wentz/Taylor/Pittman combination potentially solving all of Indianapolis’ offensive concerns.
If a team is to overtake Kansas City, it’ll need a high-octane, yet balanced offense, a ferocious defense, stout discipline in all facets of the game, and a skilled coaching staff. The Colts are by no means a perfect team, but they’re on their way to checking all of those boxes.
Perhaps Indy’s biggest key to success is the fact that six of their 16 games will come against an AFC South that is basically handing itself to the Colts on a silver platter. The Tennessee Titans lost a ton of contributors, the Jacksonville Jaguars are at the beginning of a long rebuild centered around Trevor Lawrence, and the Houston Texans are a mess on and off the field.
The Colts are committed to the principle of building a strong support staff that can help take a talented roster to new heights. Once this team plugs their biggest holes in the draft, they could create one of the AFC’s most sustainable winners over the next decade. And we’ll be remembering what Riddick said if that’s the case.
