Stampede Blue
With most things staying the same, there will need to be a lot of in house development from this team.
The Colts once again missed the playoffs, that is no news by now, and instead of blowing things up in order to start fresh they have decided to run it back for what it looks like one final try with general manager Chris Ballard, head-coach Shane Steichen, and quarterback Anthony Richardson. It is safe to say that neither the fanbase, nor owner Jim Irsay will tolerate another year of not playing football in January, so what will it take for the Colts to finally be able to take that final step.
Of course we all want Anthony Richardson to become an MVP-caliber quarterback, and put up 50 total touchdowns while leading the Colts to the #1 seed in the AFC conference, but being more realistic, the only thing the Colts need from him is to become at least a reliable quarterback. The offense is well put together, the running game worked, and he has the weapons to throw to. The Colts just don’t need AR to play hero-ball and always go for the homerun. I get that this would probably be trying to turn Richardson into something he is clearly not, but if he would just be able to hit the layups 5-6 times a game, while still providing the running threat and occasionally hitting the long ball, that would be more than enough to turn the Colts’ offense into a top 10 unit.
The last productive season by a Colts tight end came from Eric Ebron in 2018, when he got 13 touchdowns. There was also the always reliable Jack Doyle, who the Colts never managed to replace. Coby Fleener had three consecutive seasons with over 50 catches from 2013 to 2015. Dwayne Allen was not only an above-average run blocker but also a red-zone threat to consider with 15 receiving touchdowns from 2014 to 2016. For the past four years, the best season for a tight end came from Mo Alie-Cox back in 2021. Now again, I am not asking for the Colts to get Mark Andrews and Brock Bowers (though that would be nice), but either via the Draft or free-agency they need to get someone who is not going to be just a guy. There are plenty of options available for the Colts to pursue, either using their first round pick on Tyler Warren or Coltson Loveland, or going the free-agency way and getting a veteran like Zach Ertz, Austin Hooper, or Mike Gesicki.
The Colts’ defense was not the reason the team failed to make the playoffs, and while I was not particularly fond of him, I think that Gus Bradley was the scapegoat for the team’s lack of success. My biggest critic of Bradley’s scheme was...
