The Indianapolis Colts have already played nine games this season and they have eight more regular season games to go. Currently, Indy has a 4-5 record. The team will need to rip off a lot of wins in the second half of the season if there is going to be postseason football in Indianapolis.
Halfway through the season, everyone is starting to get a better understanding of where things stand. It’s understood who the good teams are, who the bad teams are, and which teams are floating in the middle. There’s also a pretty good understanding of players and their performance levels this year.
Now that the league is nine weeks through an 18-week regular season, it’s a good time to hand out some mid-season awards. What players or teams have been the most impressive in the first half of the season? Jeffri Chadiha answered that in a recent piece for NFL.com, handing out some unconventional mid-season awards
Looking at several different categories like scariest team, best return on investment, best player nobody saw coming, plus more, Chadiha gave out some awards that the NFL actually doesn’t give out at the end of the year. The Colts were represented on the list with Zack Moss being named the most improved offensive player.
Zack Moss named most improved offensive player
Chadiha pointed out that the Colts have had their ups and downs offensively this season but Moss has been one of the consistent bright spots. Playing in eight games this season, Moss has 615 rushing yards on the year. That’s third most in the NFL, even with Moss splitting carries with Jonathan Taylor since Week 5.
This is Moss’ fourth season in the league, and Chadiha made sure to emphasize that in just eight games, this is already the running back’s most productive season of his career. Playing with the Buffalo Bills for his first two-and-a-half seasons, Moss rushed for 481 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie, 345 yards and four touchdowns in year two, and 456 yards and just one touchdown in year three. Again, he has 615 rushing yards and five touchdowns this season in just eight games.
No one expected that he would be this productive when he was included in the Nyheim Hines trade and no one even thought he’d get the opportunity. However, he did, and it came at a perfect time since Zack Moss is in the final year of his contract.