5 Indianapolis Colts Starters Who Would Be More at Home in the CFL

The Indianapolis Colts have been a disaster this season. Peyton Manning's presence had covered a plethora of flaws for the team. Without Manning's excellence under center, the Colts have devolved into the dregs of the NFL.

The Colts' 0-13 start has exposed the paper-thin depth on a roster that is top-heavy with stars but devoid of "mid-range" players. Instead, the Colts are starting a few guys who would be more at home in the Canadian Football League.

Here are the five, eh?

Jacob Lacey Is a Sieve at Cornerback

Jacob Lacey made the Colts roster two years ago as an undrafted free agent after a great training camp. After injuries to starters, Lacey found himself as the primary nickelback for the Colts.

He performed decently throughout his rookie year, but he seemed to regress in 2010. This year, his spotty ways have continued, and he routinely gets burned by opposing teams' receivers. When paired with Terrence Johnson, Lacey forms one half of a nightmarish cornerback tandem that has relegated the Colts to the bottom of the NFL in defending the pass.

Lacey is a borderline player who would be better off as a star in the CFL.  

Joe Lefeged Is an Awful Kick Returner

Another undrafted free agent, backup safety and current starting kick returner Joe Lefeged has been entirely underwhelming this season.

Lefeged averages a paltry 19.7 return yards per kickoff. His punt return average is 5.4, and he hasn't run back any kicks for touchdowns. While it certainly doesn't help him that his blocking is typically fairly awful, he hasn't shown that he has the moxie to make tacklers miss.

Lefeged was a nice story in training camp, but his lack of production on the field should send him packing toward the CFL in the offseason.

Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky Are Both out of Their Depth as Starters

Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky make for an entirely wretched pair of quarterbacks. The fall-off from Manning to these guys was huge.

Orlovsky has shown in two games that he at least has better pocket presence than Painter, but he is still a sub-par QB who seems to shrink when games get tight.

After a respectable start to his tenure as starter, Painter rapidly devolved. By the time he was yanked two weeks ago in favor in Orlovsky, Painter looked the part of a practice-teamer out of his depth.

In nine games this season, he compiled a 66.6 passer rating, with six TDs and nine interceptions. This ugly stat lines shows that his status as Manning's backup was a thorough mirage.

Painter and Orlovsky would fit in better in the CFL. Hopefully, they won't be with the Colts in 2012.

Safety David Caldwell Isn't a Good Answer in the Secondary

The season-ending injury to Indy's starting strong safety Melvin Bullitt thrust David Caldwell into the Colts' starting lineup.

He's a rookie, so he could develop to become a decent special teams player at some point. Right now, however, he'd be better off in the CFL. He routinely gets burned by speedy receivers, and he's not very effective as a run stopper.

The Colts' putrescence on defense begins with its porous secondary. Caldwell has been a huge reason why opposing teams' quarterbacks have been able to pick the Colts apart through the air.

Caldwell shares a last name with his head coach. After the awful showing this season, perhaps both guys won't be with the team next year.

Kavell Conner Has Shown Himself to Be a Below-Average Linebacker

The Colts linebacking corps has actually been one of the better groups for the much-maligned Colts defense throughout this season.

Third-year weak-side linebacker Kavell Conner is the weak [pun intended] link of that squad, though. Ernie Sims often comes in for him for obvious passing plays, since Conner is a better run defender and is generally a liability in pass coverage. 

For being a supposed specialist at run stopping, Conner misses a surprising number of tackles, and running backs routinely stiff-arm him out of the way.

Conner needs to take a trip up north of the border.