Entire NFL seasons can turn on the oddest of moments. Last year, the Chicago Bears lost to the Washington Commanders on a flukish Hail Mary and proceeded to lose their next nine games. If the Indianapolis Colts end up faltering in 2025, fans might look back on a freak pregame collision in Week 6 and sadly shake their heads.
That’s when the Colts lost their top cornerback, Charvarius Ward. He was engaged in pregame warmups, working on his backpedal, when he crashed into tight end Alec Ogletree. Ward suffered a concussion – not his first. It was bad enough to land him on the injured list.
Indianapolis has been playing all season with a diminished defensive secondary, and this was just one more blow. Will the Colts be able to overcome this one? Perhaps more importantly, as the trade deadline approaches, does GM Chris Ballard need to make a move to ensure Ward’s absence doesn’t derail a spectacular season?
Will the Indianapolis Colts be buyers at the trade deadline?
Injuries are a part of football. All teams deal with them. When they are clustered at one position, even the best rosters can struggle. Ward’s absence wouldn’t be nearly as damaging were Jaylon Jones and Justin Walley not already out. Hopefully, Jones will return soon. The rookie Walley is out for the year.
A group of virtual unknowns – Mekhi Blackmon, Johnathan Edwards, special teams stud Chris Lammons – have joined Kenny Moore II to provide help at corner. Moore himself was injured earlier, and so Ballard brought in veteran Mike Hilton to play the slot. You guessed it. Hilton got hurt, too.
Part of the reason Indy has survived this brutal stretch of injuries is that they have played a lot of teams with poor passing offenses, or teams with good offenses that were also dealing with devastating injuries. There’s a bit of luck involved in that.
The other reason is that Shane Steichen’s crew is engaging in a textbook example of everyone’s new favorite term, “complementary football.” The Colts’ offense has been so dominant that it has established big leads in most games. That has forced opponents to pass more than intended. It is far easier to play defense when your opponent becomes one-dimensional.
Perhaps the Colts can sustain that, but if and when they come up against better competition – ideally, in the playoffs – that formula may not be as successful. At some point, Indy’s defense is going to have to contend with a quality passing attack in a close game. That’s when they will need to put topflight cornerbacks on the field.
The Athletic (subscription required) recently identified six teams as being sellers at the trade deadline. Two of those teams offer intriguing options that Ballard is no doubt considering.
Some analysts have drawn a logical link between the Colts and Cincinnati’s Cam Taylor-Britt. Britt has been relegated to the bench this season, but in his previous three years, he started 38 games for Colts' defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who served in the same role in Cincinnati.
But there’s a better option. Taylor-Britt was a healthy scratch recently, which always raises red flags. But even if you discount that, he has primarily played in the slot, where the Colts already have Moore and, when he returns in the second half of the season, Hilton.
The Tennessee Titans' Roger McCreary could play the slot if needed. But he can play anywhere. And he is comfortable in any style of defense. That has always been McCreary’s calling card. He is not flashy. He has three career interceptions in 54 games. But he is steady.
In his four seasons, McCreary has never had a Pro Football Focus grade (subscription required_ below 61. He is solid in coverage and good against the run. He entered the league as a highly-regarded press-man cover corner, but he has developed into a quality zone corner as well.
Lou Anarumo likes to switch up his coverage schemes, never remaining in zone or man for too long, and Roger McCreary is perfectly suited to do just that.
Ideally, by the time they reach the playoffs, Indianapolis will have Ward, Jones, and Moore as their three primary cornerbacks. Blackmon has stepped up nicely. Questons remain regarding Lammons and Edwards, but they are gaining valuable experience right now which could serve them well if they are pressed into service. And if Hilton returns, that’s another veteran presence.
If all that happens, the Colts do not need Roger McCreary. But all those things are not going to happen. Every GM and every fan knows that. The Colts will continue to experience injuries. Ward’s concussion problems are very unpredictable and difficult to manage. Jones has played six snaps this season – all on special teams.
Cornerbacks are often the most gifted athletes on a football roster. They are also usually the smallest position players. They get hurt as much as, if not more than, any other position player. You never have enough cornerbacks, especially in today’s NFL, in which offenses fling the ball all over the field.
Indy has made it this far by impressively cobbling together its cornerbacks (ably supported by Cam Bynum and Nick Cross, the two fine safeties who have fortunately remained healthy), but it would be a huge risk to move forward without some added insurance. Roger McCreary is the ideal insurance policy for a team expecting to be playing meaningful games well into January.