Who Will Win the Indianapolis Colts' Third Wide Receiver Battle?

When the Indianapolis Colts drafted wide receiver Phillip Dorsett in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft, confusion, anger and frustration were the most common expressions.

Not only did most people envision the Colts taking a defender with their first draft selection, somebody to aid in the slowing of the New England ground attack, but wide receiver was also seen as one of the Colts' deepest positions.

With Andre Johnson joining T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief, the Colts already had a quality starting core. Throw in former CFL player Duron Carter—Hall of Famer Cris Carter's son—Griff Whalen and Vincent Brown as depth and developmental receivers, and you have a very solid group.

Throwing aside the passing up on a defender or lineman, many questioned how Dorsett would impact the Colts in his rookie year.

Dorsett ideally fits into the Colts' offensive system as the third receiver, but that position isn't necessarily just his for the taking.

While it's assumed that Dorsett will likely take the position, Moncrief is the veteran (even if he is seven months younger than Dorsett). Moncrief has the inside track on the job, even if he was viewed as a lesser prospect coming out of college.

So let's take a look at both receivers, what they bring as the third receiver and make our predictions as to who will enter the 2015 season as the Colts' first receiver off the bench.

Donte Moncrief

The Colts' 2014 third-round draft pick is known as a raw, hyperathletic prospect with room to grow.

Tim Sharp/Associated Press

From a team-building perspective, Moncrief can be an "X" receiver or a split end, which will be on the weak side of a formation on the line of scrimmage.

Last season, Hakeem Nicks often played this role in three-receiver sets, although the Colts have used their receivers in rotating roles for some time now. Later in the season, Moncrief took over more of this role. Reggie Wayne filled the slot (H) role, while T.Y. Hilton was most often used as the flanker (Z).

But with Andre Johnson coming into the fold, it's assumed right now that he will take the X role, leaving Moncrief to either sit on the bench or move to a different spot.

Because of Moncrief's size-speed combination, which enables him to beat pressing cornerbacks, he seems to be best fit for a split-end position. But Moncrief does possess the versatility to play in other positions. The Colts used him at all three positions last year, grooming him to be able to play in a variety of roles. Some would be surprised to know that Moncrief was used in the slot fairly regularly in 2015.

According to Pro Football Focus, Moncrief ran 64 routes from the slot last season, which isn't a huge percentage, but still a decent chunk. He was efficient as well, averaging 2.03 yards per route run from the slot, ranking 20th out of 104 receivers to run at least 50 routes from the slot.

In the "Z," or flanker position, Moncrief was used as a motion man quite often, something that the Colts used to get him into better blocking position on running plays, to jump-start end-around plays or to get better matchups.

Then, of course, there's the "X" position, where Moncrief improved his release against press coverage as the season went on.

So, if Moncrief does become the Colts' third receiver, the team will likely use him in a variety of roles. In the Colts' base offense would likely be Johnson as the X and Hilton and Moncrief moving around as both the Y and the slot. Hilton was also used in both roles, racking up exactly two yards per route run from the slot on 231 slot routes.

Still, the long-term play is as Johnson's replacement. If you drew up Johnson's replacement in a lab, the result would look very similar to Moncrief.

Player	Height	Weight	40-yard Dash	Bench	Vertical	Broad	Short Shuttle
Johnson	6'2"	230	4.40	17	39"	132"	4.10
Moncrief	6'2"	221	4.40	13	39.5"	132"	4.30

It's here where the Colts should groom Moncrief the most, having him shadow Johnson from Day 1. That doesn't mean he can't be the third receiver in 2015, but keep the big picture in mind.

Phillip Dorsett

While it was one of the most surprising picks in the 2015 NFL draft, the Colts are very excited about Phillip Dorsett.

According to Mike Wells of ESPN.com, the Colts had Dorsett ranked in the top 20 of the 2015 class, thanks in large part to his blue-chip speed.

Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton wants to get Dorsett involved immediately, telling Steve Andress of Colts.com that when the pick was announced, he ran to his office and "ripped up some of (his) three-tight end, six-offensive linemen, one tight end and two-wide receiver packages."

It seems that Hamilton and the Colts see Dorsett as directly affecting their three-wide base personnel, or 11 personnel.

It makes sense from a schematic point of view.

As mentioned before, Johnson is a prototypical X receiver, and he ran the majority of his routes from the position in 2014. According to Matt Harmon of The Washington Post, who charted eight of Johnson's games in 2014, Johnson was on the line of scrimmage for 79.1 percent of his snaps.

With Hilton being most comfortable as a "Z" and occasionally in the slot, the most natural fit would be a receiver who could slide into the slot immediately with the ability to swap roles with Hilton on a regular basis.

While Moncrief could be adapted into that role, it's a spot that was tailor-made for Dorsett. The former Miami product has the speed to take the top off the defense on the outside and spread defenses thin, but ran a multitude of routes from the slot in college as well.

According to Alex Marvez of Fox Sports, one longtime NFL scout said that Dorsett would make an ideal slot receiver: "He's tough to handle in space. He can work in a short area and probably run right by you."

That yards-after-catch potential with Dorsett is a big key for his slot potential. Dorsett feasted on crossing routes in college, and could do the same in Indianapolis. He has a bit more elusiveness to him than Hilton or Moncrief, and he's worked on his hands enough so that drops are much less of an issue for him than they were for the former two coming out of college.

If you had to pick which receiver was the better scheme fit, stylistically, to be the third receiver, it has to be Dorsett, unless we're talking about the ability to block.

A Split Title?

But scheme fit isn't the only factor here. 

Donte Moncrief has over 500 snaps under his belt in the Colts offense, per Pro Football Focus, and the Colts spoke very highly of him this offseason as well. Back in April, both head coach Chuck Pagano and Hamilton raved about Moncrief to Steve Andress of Colts.com, both specifically stating that he would get more opportunities going forward. 

But that was before Dorsett was picked, and the coaches have talked about things like end-arounds and other wrinkles that he could be used with in the offense. As stated earlier, it's clear that they envision him making an instant impact.

For the opening weekend of the NFL season, it's hard not to give the edge to Moncrief. Having a year of experience, a year to learn the playbook and a year to build chemistry with Andrew Luck, that's a very valuable thing. It's a huge head start.

Dorsett can contribute right away on special teams as a returner, and will certainly be a part of sub-packages offensively. However, this coaching staff has made a habit of playing veterans over better young players early, such as Darrius Heyward-Bey over Hilton in 2013 and Hakeem Nicks over Moncrief in 2014.

And in this case, Moncrief isn't even heading downhill like those other veterans were. He presents just as much potential as Dorsett does, plus the edge in experience.

As Dorsett gets the playbook down and becomes more comfortable with Luck, I think we'll start to see more of him in the base three-wide offense. At that point, we probably won't see Moncrief completely blocked out either as the team tries to keep the wear and tear on Johnson and Hilton to a minimum.

It could change in a flash, of course, depending on what Hamilton is feeling like on any particular day, if anybody is injured or if either of the two players develop at a distinctly faster rate. But that's part of the beauty of the 2015 Colts offense, at least on paper.

The options are endless.