Colts need to move on from belief that Parris Campbell will be offensive weapon

Injuries across the board continue to hurt the Indianapolis Colts in the early going of the 2021 season, but one has persisted for three full years now.

Former second-round pick Parris Campbell cannot stay healthy and was among the inactives for Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams after playing just 61% of the snaps in the team’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday.

Campbell is apparently dealing with an abdomen issue, which is yet another new ailment the third-year wideout has suffered from since being drafted out of Ohio State back in 2019.

How much longer can the Colts believe Campbell will be a weapon for this offense? Health is a glaring problem for him and the team might have to abandon the simple notion that he can be a contributor, let alone a force in the slot.

The Colts need to find another option because Parris Campbell is unreliable.

The worst part about this? The team was initially confident he’d be ready to go against the Rams. It seems they continue to fool themselves more often than we might think.

Colts fans obviously cannot call this a draft blunder because Campbell was on the field for 39 games during his sophomore, junior and senior seasons with the Buckeyes. There was no evidence this type of injury-proneness wasn’t going to be create an immense risk at pick No. 59.

However, Indy has the power to have him fade into the background and elevate a guy like Dezmon Patmon when he comes off injured reserve and just keep a rotation of Michael Pittman-Zach Pascal-Mike Strachan in the meantime as they wait for TY Hilton to return. Wasting any more time on Campbell feels like it’ll hurt the offense’s chemistry and/or take reps away from more promising, younger options.

Campbell has been available for less than 30% of the time in his NFL career. And even when he’s been healthy, we’ve seen little evidence of his explosiveness that made him a national name while at Ohio State.

General manager Chris Ballard had the right idea with this selection, but you can’t hit home runs in every round. There are plenty of other guys on this roster who can fill Campbell’s shoes and produce much more than his 25 catches for 222 yards.

At least, we hope so. Because Indy needs this offense to come together with a clear plan for this year and beyond if they’re going to stick with Carson Wentz for the next four years.

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