Colts’ in-season ‘Hard Knocks’ could be most dramatic season in years

Don’t bitterly write off the NFL’s surprise announcement regarding the impending release of an in-season, Colts-centric edition of “Hard Knocks” just yet.

After all, we’ve seen years upon years, decades upon decades of what it looks like when NFL stars and scrubs suffer through months of training camp. We’ve laughed at the longshots who never had a chance to make it, and cried with the standout fourth-rounders who simply got crowded out after trying their hardest.

Something we’ve never seen, though? A playoff team from the previous year suffer through a regular-season gauntlet of five of the toughest possible games to start off a repeat bid.

The Colts have agreed to give us a window into their struggle, knowing full well how difficult the road was likely to be. That is extremely compelling.

The first edition of Indy’s “Hard Knocks” will reportedly air on Nov. 17, and will cover a wide swath of materials from a team that will likely endure some growing pains in the process.

Also…how will the NFL handle the vaccination of it all? Did they remember what they were getting into when they aligned with the Colts?

The Colts’ in-season “season” of “Hard Knocks” will be intense.

Not to be pessimistic for pessimism’s sake, but we have no idea where the Colts will have landed at that point in the season.Week 2’s injury report is already daunting enough, as is the Rams/Titans/Dolphins/Ravens gauntlet yet to come.

At the very least, Indy has a soft landing around the time production will supposedly ramp up, tussling with the Jets on Nov. 4 and the Jaguars on Nov. 14. It doesn’t seem like a stretch to say we could be joining the Colts’ season at the “overcoming adversity” stage of the narrative.

In terms of individual player storylines, this Indy team will be chock full of potential buzzworthy arcs. Carson Wentz will be either entrenched as the starter or on the Back Nine with his second straight team, one that risked it all to import him. Darius Leonard will be on a crusade to live up to his contract, and remain the same hungry ‘backer he’s always been. Jonathan Taylor has a rushing crown in his sights.

And, again, there could be serious consequences to the team’s public refusal to be adequately vaccinated.

Our Colts might just be compelling enough to start a movement overseas.

While nobody wants to wait until mid-November to tear into this season, at least the team should be on the upswing by then.

Perhaps America will all join us in rooting for a wild-and-crazy underdog.

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