2017 Indianapolis Colts Preview
With the first team in the AFC South, I will be talking about the Indianapolis Colts, coached by Chuck Pagano and with the first year general manager in Chris Ballard. The Colts have had an interesting few years, although with a regime change recently it appears as though they may be in for some difficult times. It has become clear that this team can't win with just Andrew Luck, and they need defense and a running game to be true contenders.
DRAFT RECAP
The Colts draft focused a lot on the secondary, including starting off with first round safety Malik Hooker and second round cornerback Quincy Wilson. Hooker and Wilson are instant upgrades for the Colts' secondary, although it won't push them over the top yet. In a pretty big reworking of the defense, they added a DE in the third round by the name or Tarell Basham from Ohio University. The most notable late round pick was RB Marlon Mack in the 4th round, and he could be given a chance to prove he is the back of the future in Indy.
FREE AGENCY
Like usual when switching general managers and coaches, a big swing in free agency happened for the Colts. They brought in a lot of help in the front seven, including DT Johnathan Hankins and DE Jabaal Sheard. In fact, the top five most expensive free agent signings were front seven players. They also brought in punter Jeff Locke and WR Kamar Aiken. As far as who the Colts retained, the most notable were CB Darius Butler and RB Robert Turbin.
PLAYERS LOST
The Colts didn't lose a ton to other teams, as S Mike Adams was the biggest loss and he went to Carolina. However, DE/OLB Robert Mathis retired, and virtually the rest of the front seven is still available in free agency, including Trent Cole, D'Qwell Jackson, Arthur Jones and Erik Walden. RB Jordan Todman is the most notable offensive loss.
STRONGEST POSITION
Quarterback is the strongest position in Indianapolis, and the Colts live and die with Andrew Luck. However, they are actively working to change that with all of the defensive additions, but this is still Luck's team.
WEAKEST POSITION
I'm going with running back here, and although Frank Gore had a good season last year, he is ancient when it comes to age at the running back position. After that, it's Robert Turbin, Josh Ferguson and fourth round selection Marlon Mack. Mack may turn out to be good, but as of now it's a bunch of borderline camp cuts and unproven players after Gore.
FIVE MOST IMPORTANT PLAYERS TO THE COLTS' SUCCESS
QB Andrew Luck, RB Frank Gore, DT Johnathan Hankins, OLB Jabaal Sheard, CB Vontae Davis
The strongest and weakest positions for the Colts are very important to the offense's success, and the Colts need Luck to win any games and need Gore to keep the pressure off Luck. Hankins and Sheard are both big additions on the reworked front seven, and CB Vontae Davis is still the best player in the secondary.
PREDICTION
I think the Colts have a decent squad, but the offense doesn't look very threatening from afar, and that's WITH Andrew Luck at quarterback. Defensively, there are a lot of new pieces, and it may take some time to get that unit to be cohesive. The rest of the division looks better on paper, but it could be a very close and competitive division. I think the Colts will finish last, and go about 6-10, maybe 7-9.
