Indianapolis Colts: Disappointing Receivers Must Step Up in Second Half of 2015

Going into 2015, the Indianapolis Colts had several key strengths. 

The Colts have not structured a particularly well-balanced team, for a number of reasons. For one, it's incredibly difficult to build a well-balanced team, and the Colts went with a method that is generally more stable long term: building an elite facet of the team that will last across multiple years that can be built around. 

For Indianapolis, this was the passing offense. Look at all these big moves that were made in the offseason to give the team an elite core to build around: 

• Drafting Phillip Dorsett in the first round. A speedster who could slip into the slot perfectly for the next four-to-five years, Dorsett's role was to complement T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief as the receivers of the future. 
• Signing left tackle Anthony Castonzo to a four-year, $43 million extension. The left tackle of the future, Castonzo was an elite pass protector in 2014, and he is the most stable element of the Colts' inconsistent offensive line. Protecting Luck's blind side was a direct investment in the long-term passing game. 
• Signing wide receiver T.Y. Hilton to a five-year, $65 million extension. One of the league's most dangerous deep threats, Hilton not only is a complement to Luck's downfield-focused field vision, but he is Luck's favorite target on critical downs as well. 

With those three moves, Ryan Grigson and the Colts proved their commitment for a long-term elite passing offense. There's nothing wrong with that strategy, it's worked wonders for the Colts in the past, as well as teams like the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints.

But, for a strategy like that to work, that unit has to actually perform like an elite unit. 

For the Indianapolis Colts, that has not happened. 

Andrew Luck struggled to start the season, maybe just because of lingering injury issues, but he still struggled. He did look better against the Denver Broncos, but an injury now will keep him from contributing for the next few weeks. 

Anthony Castonzo was slow out of the gate, although he's picked back up over the last few weeks with dominating performances. 

But what we're talking about today is how the wide receiver corps has struggled, something that cannot continue in the second half of the season, especially with Matt Hasselbeck running the show for two-to-six weeks. 

With the trio of Hilton, Moncrief and Dorsett bolstered by the veteran Andre Johnson in free agency and the long-shot CFL asset Duron Carter, the Colts were universally praised for their receiving corps throughout the offseason.

Writers from the league's website bought in, as Bucky Brooks ranked the Colts' receiving corps as the third-best unit in the league, only trailing Denver and Green Bay: "Long story short, the Colts seemingly have an answer for every defensive tactic an opponent can throw at their diverse aerial attack."

Third-party analysts were on board as well, as Pro Football Focus' Nathan Jahnke ranked the unit at the top of the league: 

"

The Colts hit a home run with Andrew Luck in the 2012 draft, and followed it up with an impressive collection of pass-catchers in Coby Fleener, Dwayne Allen and T.Y. Hilton. At this point all of them should be at their prime. Even though Andre Johnson isn’t the player he once was, he still graded out as an average receiver in 2014 — which is an upgrade over what they had in Reggie Wayne. Finally, when Luck threw at third wide receiver Donte Moncrief last year, he had an NFL passer rating of 122.0 — which was sixth-best of all NFL receivers, and took place during Moncrief’s rookie year. While no single player is among the best at his position, the Colts have weapons all over the field.

"

So far this season, however, that diverse set of weapons has yet to produce at the level expected. A big part of the issue is Andrew Luck, but there is fault with the receivers as well. 

It's not that they are playing particularly poorly (outside of Johnson), but that they simply aren't meeting expectations. 

T.Y. Hilton has pushed through multiple injuries, but that doesn't totally excuse his inconsistent effort at the catch point this season. He has possibly been the biggest culprit of Luck's poor start to the season, but he is still on pace for a 76-catch, 1,250-yard, six-touchdown season. 

Donte Moncrief had a strong start to the season, grabbing 23 catches for 275 yards and three touchdowns in the first four games of the season. But his performance has been inconsistent at best since, and invisible at worst, as he has just 16 catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns in the last five games. 

Phillip Dorsett was rather effective in limited snaps early in the season, but his struggles on special teams and an ankle fracture have dampened his rookie year. 

Then there's Andre Johnson, who has been a colossal disappointment all season. Johnson had a big game against his former employers in Houston, and then caught a few big passes in the team's near-comeback in Carolina in Week 8. But Johnson has failed to reach 50 yards or score a touchdown in every other game this season, including three games with zero catches. 

Over the last few games, Johnson has even been replaced by Griff Whalen in key situations. Whalen has played well, all things considered, but it's still a dire sign for Johnson.

While Johnson's age and lack of speed has led to an expected drop in his ability to get separation, more concerning may be his struggles with drops and in contested catch situations. Johnson has just a 50 percent catch rate on the season, per Pro-Football-Reference.com. His drop rate has him ranked 80th among 87 qualifying receivers, per Pro Football Focus. 

This doesn't even include the tight ends, who were a key piece of the Colts' passing offense last year, but have produced just four touchdowns this season (16 last year). 

We could dig deeper into the receiving struggles of the Colts, but quite simply, they have to be better. Luck's poor play is the biggest factor in the team's stuttering passing game, but the receivers' inability to get open against man coverage has played a part as well. 

John Minchillo/Associated Press

With Luck out for the next few weeks, this will be even more important. While Hasselbeck played well in the team's two wins earlier this season, he's not a playmaker. He can run the offense, but that means the rest of the players have to be doing their jobs. 

Johnson has to at least be a factor in the short and intermediate passing game. Moncrief has to get back to his productive ways. Hilton has to start taking games over like he did in 2014. 

And the rookie, Dorsett? He just has to get back on the field. 

With Luck out, it will be a team effort to keep pace in the AFC South. That starts with the players catching the ball.