Week 1 was a complete mess for the Indianapolis Colts in losing to the Baltimore Ravens 41-23. The rookie class certainly didn't do many positive things, but then no one did. Even Jonathan Taylor had a bad fumble early in the game.
The coaching staff seemed unprepared for the game, too. Defensive communication was lacking, and the rookies can't be blamed for that. They didn't know what they didn't know.
Still, having zero rookies make any kind of true positive impact is not ideal. The rest of the season could be better, of course, but in Week 1, a general grade of F would be warranted.
Indianapolis Colts rookie stock report after Week 1 win
LB CJ Allen
What an atrocious start to Allen's career, and he didn't even play a down. Exactly why is up for speculation. The team has said it is because injuries during training camp diminished Allen's growth, but he missed seven practices between July 29 and August 15, and played in the preseason (61 snaps) after beginning.
Fellow rookie AJ Haulcy missed six practices between August 25 and September 8, and he played 67 snaps on defense in Week 1. Something is matching up with what the team says and Allen's participation. Maybe Week 2 will be different in a positive way for the linebacker. Ultimately, it appears the team simply didn't trust Allen to play in any form (defense or special teams) against the Ravens.
S AJ Haulcy
Speaking of Haulcy, he had five tackles and didn't miss any, and that was the end of the good part of his play. He was targeted three times in coverage, allowed two completions, one of them a 54-yard touchdown catch. He had one run stuff, but played on 35 run-defense snaps. He wasn't good.
But what could one really expect from a rookie safety on a defense that was struggling with miscommunication? Simply getting aligned was a struggle. That is more of a coaching issue than a Haulcy problem.
LB Bryce Boettcher
Boettcher had a tackle on special teams and was solid in the third phase of the game. He was also involved in six tackles on defense, but he whiffed on two attempts. Failing on 25 percent of tries to bring a ball carrier down is not a good look for an inside linebacker.
He was also targeted once in pass coverage, allowed the completion for 17 yards, and five of those came after the catch. The main issue is that Boettcher wasn't the biggest problem on the Colts' defense. Far from it.
RB Seth McGowan
McGowan had a fantastic kick return of 66 yards, but that was really his lone bright spot. He had four other kick returns that averaged just 24.5 yards per return. He also reps on six offensive snaps, two in pass protection, and he was exceedingly awful in that aspect.
On those two failed blocks, he allowed quarterback pressures on both, including a sack. If a young running back wants to see a lot of playing time, he must show he can pass protect. McGowan showed he couldn't do that yet.
G Jalen Farmer, Edge rusher Caden Curry, WR Deion Burks
Of the Indianapolis Colts' draft class, only George Gumbs Jr. didn't play. He was listed as inactive ahead of the game, a healthy scratch. Farmer and Burks only saw reps on special teams (still more than CJ Allen!) and were not impactful.
Curry played in the third phase of the game, too, but also played three snaps on defense. He didn't record a statistic, though. He was a great example of the best of the rookies in Week 1: he didn't do anything wrong while some of the others were part of the reason the Colts were blown out.
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