Stampede Blue
Greetings everyone! After somewhat of a summer break it feels great to finally be back and writing about our dear Colts’ team. The quiet offseason was nice, sure—but as writers, we kind of live for the drama. And thankfully, football is finally upon us again. With that, I’m taking the bold step of putting my predictions for the season in writing, so you can all come back when it’s over and either roast me... or crown me a prophet.
Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson are fighting for the starting quarterback position — and so far there seems to be no clear winner. There is a chance that with heightened competition and a proper training camp experience Richardson finally starts to climb towards the potential that made him a top 5 pick, and let me be clear: I’m not saying he needs to be All-Pro, just that we see growth—enough for the Colts to say, “Hey, this guy’s not there yet, but he’s trending up. Let’s give him more time.”
Daniel Jones never got a decent all-around supporting cast while he was with the Giants, but he was not even an average NFL quarterback in his entire career. The Colts might be hoping that he can capture the same magic that late-blooming quarterbacks had (Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith, Sam Darnold, Jared Goff). Sometimes a change of scenery is all a player needs to jump-start their career once again. The Colts are the perfect spot for a quarterback to land. They have a really good offensive line, proven receivers, an emerging tight end prospect, an All-Pro caliber running back, and an offensive-minded head-coach.
My prediction is that neither Anthony Richardson nor Daniel Jones emerge as a clear starting option, but alas, whoever starts will not be so bad that the Colts end up near the bottom of the league and are basically forced to get rid of both of them and take a quarterback. That will probably be the worst case scenario, in what looks like a strong quarterback class so far.
New defensive coordinator, shored up the secondary, young players that are breakout candidates, and a forgiving schedule. The Colts’ defense could very easily be one of the best units in the NFL next season. Charvarius Ward and Camryn Bynum will help solidify what was already a solid backend of the defense, Laiatu Latu (more on him later), Nick Cross, Jaylon Carlies, and Jaylon Jones are all young players that look ready to take that next step, and I believe that Lou Anarummo will work wonders with the talent he has at his disposal.
The only clear weakness I see on the Colts’ defense is the linebacker position. If Anarummo insists on Zaire Franklin being a capable starter in this day and age, then we are basically gifting opponents an easy...
