Identifying Indianapolis Colts' Biggest Strengths, Weaknesses After Draft
With the Indianapolis Colts draft class officially nailed down and the bulk of undrafted free-agent signings completed, the Colts roster is just about set.
Apart from minor tweaks throughout the summer as the team churns through undrafted free agents, the Colts likely won't be making any changes until training camp and cut days come. The 2015 team has been assembled, now it's just a question of sorting out who makes the final roster.
With that in mind, it's time to begin looking at the big picture from this draft.
How did the Colts improve? Where did they stay stagnant?
Most of all, how much closer are they to a 2015 Super Bowl appearance?
We'll be addressing all of those questions in the coming weeks, but today we start simple: With the roster complete, what are the Colts' biggest strengths and weaknesses?
Strength: Downfield Receiving Targets
1 of 8
With the best player on their board being a wide receiver, the Colts decided to strengthen a strength by selecting Phillip Dorsett out of Miami with their first-round pick.
While the pick doesn't help the Colts stop the run or rush the passer, arguably their two biggest faults last year, it does instantly make their offense even more deadly.
The Colts employed a downfield passing offense last season, as Andrew Luck attempted and completed more passes of 20 yards or more than any other quarterback in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. Luck was efficient too, with the sixth-highest completion percentage on such passes.
Now the Colts have added Dorsett, which should make that downfield attack even stronger. Dorsett averaged 24.2 yards per catch in 2014, and overall has averaged over 25 yards per catch since 2012. While he's not limited just to vertical routes, Dorsett's biggest value will be to keep defenses honest, especially down the field.
During the Colts' embarrassing 45-7 loss to the New England Patriots in January, the Indianapolis downfield passing attack was shut down, as Luck was just 1-of-7 on downfield attempts, per Pro Football Focus.
But now imagine receiver sets with Dorsett in the slot and T.Y. Hilton outside, with tight end Coby Fleener in the mix. Just for kicks, add in second-year receiver Donte Moncrief. The Colts have created a receiver corps with more speed than any in the league, and speed kills.
Weakness: Offensive Line Stability
2 of 8
The Colts didn't select any offensive linemen early in the draft, and while the need has been overblown by some national analysts, the team does lack stability on the line.
Make no mistake, there is plenty of depth there. If we assume a starting lineup of Anthony Castonzo, Jack Mewhort, Khaled Holmes, Todd Herremans and Gosder Cherilus, you still have Joe Reitz, Hugh Thornton, Jonotthan Harrison, Donald Thomas and Lance Louis with starting experience, as well as developmental players like Ben Heenan (a splash signing from the CFL), Ulrick John (last year's seventh-round pick) and Denzell Goode (this year's seventh-round pick).
That's a lot of bodies, enough that all of them won't even necessarily make the final roster.
But there is little stability in the unit outside of Castonzo at left tackle. Second-year guard Mewhort did a nice job as a rookie at left guard, but if Cherilus' injuries are significant, he may need to move to right tackle. The Colts don't have a center who could hold the starting job, and right tackle is an open competition at this point.
With no tackle depth, the team will have to rely on natural guards to slide over if Cherilus isn't reliable.
Strength: Offensive Depth
3 of 8
As mentioned on the previous slide, while the Colts don't have a top-flight starting offensive line, they have a plethora of bodies at the position, and depth isn't a problem.
There's a similar story across the rest of the offense.
At quarterback, the Colts have one of the better backup quarterbacks in the league in Matt Hasselbeck. At running back, the Colts have Dan Herron, sixth-round pick Josh Robinson, Vick Ballard and Zurlon Tipton behind Frank Gore. The Colts' drafting of Phillip Dorsett makes the wide receiver corps the deepest in the league, with Dorsett joining T.Y. Hilton, Andre Johnson and Donte Moncrief in the regular rotation with CFL star Duron Carter waiting in the wings.
Even tight end has its bodies, with Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen forming a formidable duo with versatile Jack Doyle making regular contributions. The Colts also have 2014 UDFA Erik Swoope and 2015 UDFA Jean Sifrin on the roster.
Considering the Colts' injury history, it's a good thing depth is such a strength. The Colts have finished among the bottom five in Football Outsiders' adjusted games lost to injury metric annually, finishing 30th in 2014. The offense in particular was 29th last season.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Weakness: Continuity?
4 of 8
If there's one weakness the Colts offense has, outside of a questionable offensive line, it's continuity—or lack thereof.
The Colts have brought in a multitude of new faces this season, including a new starting running back (Frank Gore), starting receiver (Andre Johnson), slot receiver (Phillip Dorsett) and potential starting offensive lineman (Todd Herremans). Then there are the multitude of new depth players, like RB Josh Robinson, OL Ben Heenan and WR Duron Carter.
The offensive line could have all five starters back from last season, but that probably wouldn't mean much. The Colts had the least amount of continuity in the league on the offensive line last year, according to Football Outsiders, and the team will be hard-pressed to improve in 2015.
The new receiving targets will take time to get acclimated with Andrew Luck and the rest of the offense, and that could make for a rockier start than many are anticipating for what should be a high-flying offense in 2015.
Strength: Front-Line Depth
5 of 8
As on offense, the Colts added quite a bit of depth to the defensive line and outside linebackers this offseason, what amounts to the front line of the defense in the Colts' 3-4 scheme (which includes many four-linemen sets).
On the defensive line, the Colts added Stanford's Henry Anderson and David Parry during the draft. The two should fit right in with Zach Kerr and Montori Hughes backing up the starting three of Arthur Jones, Josh Chapman and Kendall Langford. Anderson, Kerr and Hughes all have real potential to start at some point down the line, as does Parry if Chapman continues to disappoint.
Meanwhile, there is the outside linebacker group that gets Robert Mathis back from injury and added veteran Trent Cole in free agency. With Erik Walden, Jonathan Newsome and Bjoern Werner behind the two former Pro Bowlers, the Colts have plenty of bodies that need snaps.
We could debate the total overall quality on the units, with no established star in their prime, but the depth is certainly there, and that's extremely valuable come the postseason.
Weakness: Inside Linebackers in Coverage
6 of 8
While the Colts did add two inside linebackers to the depth rotation this offseason, they were more the "thumper" type than athletic players that can keep up with tight ends and running backs in open space.
Nate Irving, the former Denver Bronco, was stellar against the run before getting hurt in 2014, but his coverage skills are inconsistent at best. Amarlo Herrera, the former Georgia linebacker drafted in the sixth round, has a ton of production and good instincts against the run, but his limited athleticism will likely hinder him from being as well-rounded as one would like.
Herrera is a similar story. He has decent instincts in diagnosing play type (you don't have 227 tackles in two years without strong instincts) and quickly drops into coverage, but his change-of-direction and accelerations traits are below average.
With D'Qwell Jackson's man coverage problems being well-documented, the Colts struggled against tight ends and running backs last year, finishing 26th and 31st against them in DVOA, according to Football Outsiders. Based on the personnel moves so far, the Colts might want to plan accordingly this year.
Strength: Top Cornerbacks
7 of 8
One thing that can be said about the Colts under general manager Ryan Grigson and head coach Chuck Pagano: They do value their cornerbacks. The Colts drafted their first cornerback in 2015, but have spent plenty of free-agent resources in building one of the league's better units.
Vontae Davis was traded for a second-round pick in 2012 and has blossomed into a stellar corner on the right side. Davis was re-signed a year ago for what now looks like a steal of a deal at four years, $36 million.
Greg Toler can play risky and is inconsistent, but he can play press coverage without much help on the left side, which is something that's difficult to do.
Darius Butler has been a great find off the street from back in 2012, and has developed into one of the league's better slot corners.
Now add former Florida Atlantic cornerback D'Joun Smith, who will likely replace Toler a year from now but will fill in as the dime cornerback in 2015. Smith doesn't have quite the length that Toler does, but he's very physical and is well-rounded.
While the position will be filled out by an undrafted free agent, likely, the top end of the position is a very strong group, which is ideal in today's pass-heavy NFL.
Weakness: Blue-Chip Defensive Players
8 of 8
One of the things that the Colts really wanted to do this offseason was add impact players to the defensive side of the ball. While the offense has a few different pillars to build around, starting with Andrew Luck, the defense is missing high-impact individuals on the whole.
Sure, there is Vontae Davis, but outside of that it's a few older players who are likely well past their weekly domination days (Trent Cole, Robert Mathis, D'Qwell Jackson). Each of those players may be able to have a game here or there where they make a string of plays, but there's not really anybody but Davis who has to be game-planned for week in and week out.
The Colts needed to add one or more of those players this offseason, but right now it doesn't appear that they have.
Maybe D'Joun Smith or Henry Anderson develops into one, but that will take some coaching (and a bit of luck) and probably won't happen this season. I doubt that any of the Colts' free-agent signings become anything but role players.
The Colts are still looking for their long-term blue-chip players on defense. That was arguably the biggest goal this offseason, and right now I don't think we can say it was accomplished. But this rookie class has yet to see the field, and you never know what they'll bring.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
