Colts Run Defense Still Needs Improvement to Make Super Bowl Run

Over the last week, the Indianapolis Colts have made some well thought-out moves to improve the team.

Each of the Colts' moves, from signing free agents to letting veterans walk, has been made with a plan in mind, and the Colts are in a better position both in the short and long-term than they were at the end of the 2014 season.

It seems that Ryan Grigson is learning from his mistakes. He's cut bad additions from previous years, like LaRon Landry, Ricky Jean Francois and Trent Richardson. Instead of signing mid-range talent to four and five-year deals for extravagant money, the Colts have focused on short-term deals for proven veteran talent to supplement the team's youth.

I won't opine about the moves more than I already have, but the point is this: Unlike past offseasons, the Colts' offseason this year seems to be a part of a coherent, forward-thinking plan. Grigson and the Colts should be lauded for the way they've structured contracts and closed on the players they targeted.

But, the offseason isn't over, and while the Colts' moves are good ones, they alone don't make the Colts AFC favorites. To get to the Super Bowl, which will be the Colts' immediate goal every year that Andrew Luck suits up in blue and white, Indianapolis must get past the defending champion New England Patriots.

Gore, Johnson, Trent Cole and Co. will help but more upgrades are still necessary.

Specifically, the Colts have to continue to build the team's run defense.

The Colts lost to New England twice last season, and the lack of run defense was the biggest culprit each and every time.

Game	Rush Att.	Rush Yards	Rushing TDs	YPC	Rushing 1st Downs
Week 11	44	246	4	5.59	17
AFCCG	40	177	3	4.43	14
Average	42	211.5	3.5	5.04	15.5
NFL Average	26.7	111.3	0.74	4.16	6.03

Now, when it comes to building teams in the NFL, the first thing to worry about is the pass. Passing is king, after all.

But good teams exploit weaknesses, and the Colts need to find a way to better mask their run defense. Until they do that, it won't matter how much the offense improves, because teams like New England (or Dallas or Pittsburgh) will continue to exploit it up the middle.

So far this offseason, the work to improve the run defense has been minimal.

Players who have left in free agency or been cut include: 

• Ricky Jean Francois (fringe starter)
• Cory Redding (starter)
• Fili Moala (depth)
• Shaun Phillips (depth)
• Andy Studebaker (special teams/depth)

Front seven additions in free agency:

• Kendall Langford (fringe starter/depth)
• Trent Cole (rotational)

The only additions the Colts have made are fringe starters at best, and aren't necessarily upgrades in the run defense department.

More subtraction than addition, at least so far. Granted, none of the subtractions were particularly successful against the Patriots (although Redding was the Colts' best front-seven player last year), but they are still voids that need to be filled.

So what do the Colts still need to address? Currently, the team's depth chart on the front seven looks like this:

Position	Starter	Rotational	Depth/ST
5T-DE	Kendall Langford
NT	Josh Chapman	Montori Hughes
3T-DT	Arthur Jones	Zach Kerr
ROLB	Robert Mathis	Jonathan Newsome
ILB	Jerrell Freeman	Henoc Muamba
ILB	D'Qwell Jackson
SOLB	Trent Cole	Erik Walden	Bjoern Werner

From my perspective, there are a few distinct holes. The Colts may not be able to fill all of them, but they should try to address as many as possible.

The first is another starter on the defensive line. Chapman is currently the starter, but they could use a definite upgrade after failing to develop into the force the Colts hand hoped. Ideally, Chapman would be your rotational nose tackle. At this point in time, with Terrance Knighton and Dan Williams both signed to new deals, the best option is probably a draft pick.

The second is a young five-tech defensive end to compete with Langford for the starting role. This likely would be a draft pick, somebody with a high ceiling  who could develop into a stud. At No. 29 in the draft, these are hard to find, but Arik Armstead out of Oregon is a potential candidate.

AJ Mast/Associated Press

The third and final big hole is inside linebacker. Freeman and Jackson are both starting-caliber players, but they struggled mightily at times in 2014. The Colts have no depth currently behind those two, and the team needs a long-term starter to eventually replace Jackson with. Freeman will be a free agent again in 2016 as well.

Then there's the issue of depth throughout the front seven, which hopefully can be addressed in the later rounds of the draft and perhaps with some veteran cuts later in the offseason.

Overall, however, the big thing is that the Colts just need playmakers in the front seven. They need guys who opposing offenses have to game-plan around.

Which is why, as it always does, this comes down to drafting. If the Colts can hit on their early defensive picks, they'll be in solid shape. Their one attempt in Ryan Grigson's tenure to get a defensive stud early has been extremely disappointing in Bjoern Werner.

If the team hits on a few defensive draft picks, they'll set themselves up as true Super Bowl contenders. If they don't, the Colts will continue to be a good team fighting a losing battle.

Having a more efficient offense will certainly help. If you keep scoring points, you keep the opponent from being in run-favorable situations. An offense and defense are linked, with each's success and failure impacting the other's chances of success.

But at some point, you need the defense to make a play. In four games against the Patriots in three years, the Colts defense hasn't been able to make those plays when they needed to.