First, want to wish Coach Pagano a speedy recovery and that we’re praying for him. Colts nation is with you now, during your recovery and will be ready to welcome you back to the sideline.
My, how things change in a month. Only three games in the books and injuries have already played a major role on roster shuffling. There have been some pleasant surprises and of course, a few disappointments.
Let’s start with the offense, and the O-line to be specific. Talk about disappointing. The line was a new group and really needed time to mature and find its groove. Well, so much for that. Injuries have been the theme through the first three games, so continuity hasn’t really even began. Starters Reitz, Satele and Justice have all missed time. Eh. The backups have played, well, like backups. And I mean 3rd/4th string. I really like the starters as a group and have hopes that they will jell with each other given PLAYING time together.
Before the season started, I thought the Colts O-line backups were thin and not very good. Unfortunately, that’s how it’s played out. Amplifying the problem was losing Foster to IR before the season started and rookie Anderson to the PUP list. The Colts have had to pick up free agents Sowell (from Tampa Bay Bucs practice squad) and Essex over the course of the first four weeks. Shipley has been on & off the roster & practice squad. I thought Essex might stick, but he was released unceremoniously and Sowell was brought in after his release, so maybe there’s an injury, performance or something else the Colts didn’t like there. Even the practice squad has seen O-Linemen come and go. After being picked up on waivers, Person hardly made the 53-man roster before being released. Weems was on the practice squad for just 15 days. O-Linemen currently sitting on the practice squad are Hills & Hicks. Hicks was a preseason addition to the practice squad, but apparently hasn’t shown enough progress to make the active roster since he’s been passed over a few times for free agents or other team’s practice squad players. Hills, a 5 year vet, was added to the practice squad in mid-September, but he too has been passed over when O-linemen have been needed on the active roster.
It seems very clear with the movements on the active roster and practice squad that the Colts know too well this is an area that needs much improvement to keep Luck protected and standing through week 17. Good thing Luck can run, because he’s going to need those skills this season. At least when Luck has had to run, he’s been good at it. And even better, he doesn’t look as awkward as Manning did running. Man, I hated to see Peyton run or should I say lumber. Now, if Luck can learn how to S-L-I-D-E!!! Love your toughness, but we need you. Please slide, Andrew, please slide.
Besides the O-Line, the other offensive injury to note is of course, to Collie. The guy cannot buy a break. First game back, he has a knee injury and on his first catch. Maybe he and A Gonzalez should commiserate. Fortunately the receiving core, though young, are a strength on the roster. Wayne is being Super Wayne (Can I get a REGGIE, REGGIE, REGGIE!!). Avery is coming along and Hilton has shown some flashes of being one of those wow receivers. I’m still waiting to make judgment on Brazil and Adams. They’ve also brought in Palmer from the 49ers practice squad to replace Collie. He played with QB Chandler and is a speedster. With the exception of Fleener’s hands, which I think he’ll improve, the TEs have been pretty solid. Allen looks like he’s emerging as the #1 TE. With more time between Luck and the receiving core, I think they’ll just get better as the season goes along. At the very least, they are fun to watch.
Haven’t had much success in the run game, but heck with our offensive line shuffling and depth issue, ANY yards we get is a positive. It’ll be interesting to see if it improves once the starting O-Line is back for more than just a couple plays.
Now the defense.
Where the O-Line has been the weak link for the offense, the defensive backs have been that for the defense. Inexperience and not a lot of playing time together, mixed with injuries have taken a noticeable toll.
Like the O-Line, the names for DBs have been rotating on the active roster and practice squad quite frequently. DBs (S, SS, DB or CB) have been involved in eighteen transactions since August 31st. Starting with Safety, Latarrius Thomas as the first example. He was waived, resigned to the practice squad then released from the practice squad all in just three days. S Jermale Hines was waived on September 1st and the Colts picked up S Sergio Brown. Bet you remember him from the last play of the Jacksonville game. Not good. Not good at all. My guess is he’s on very thin ice. Good play by any other safety not a starter or by a new practice squad player and he’ll be gone. S Mike Newton was waived/injured then placed on IR then finally waived from the Reserve/Injured list all in just a matter of seven days. The exact same scenario happened to CB Brandon King. As a side note, it seems the Colts are waiving players from the injured list much more frequently this year. Not sure what that is about. Korey Lindsey made it a little longer. He went on IR on 8/31, and then was waived from the reserve/injured list on 9/25. The DB merry-go-round continued with CB DJ Johnson. Remember him? Colts traded for him, so it seemed at the time he had a good shot at making the starting roster. Well, Johnson was waived on September 1st, signed to the practice squad the very next day. He remained there even though the Colts have brought in other DBs. He was unceremoniously waived from the practice squad on October 1st. Guess the first of the month isn’t a good day for him. More signs that he wasn’t performing enough even to stay on the practice squad, he was replaced by Marshay Green. Recently the Colts signed CB Darius Butler to the active roster due to injuries by V. Davis and J King. Seems Grigson is watching every practice squad player from other teams and the waiver wire for the DB position. Meaning, they know like opposing QBs know, that the DB position is a major weak spot.
The rest of the defense has been steadier. Freeman has been a big bright spot. I had doubts, but he’s filled in admirably for Angerer. His INT Pick 6 against the Bears in the season opener was very nice. Will be interesting to see how the Colts utilize him once Angerer is back to full speed. If nothing else, he’s made depth at LB much better. The switch to the 3-4 hasn’t been too bad either. Mathis is still a sacking machine. Freeney just needs to stay healthy. His presence makes it much more difficult for opposing offenses to block him and the rest of the line. When Freeney is in there, it just makes it easier on the rest of the defense.
Besides the DB position, the roster/practice squad changes aren’t as active. DE Aiono and OLB Fugger were both waived/injured on August 31st, placed on injured/reserve the next day, then both waived from that list on September 7th. I’m a little surprised about waiving Fugger. It seems like they would have kept him on the injured list to protect him from other teams next year. But again, seems like the Colts are waiving players from the injured list a lot this year and a lot more than in the past. There was a little action regarding the DT position. They signed Tevaseu from waivers and essentially swapped Anunoby for Jean-Baptiste on the practice squad. The LB position has been pretty quiet as well. Jerry Brown was added to the practice squad and just yesterday, Mario Addison was waived from the active roster. This was necessitated by injuries in other positions, namely OL, WR and DB. The Colts left a practice squad position open, so I expect to see him re-join the team there.
Special Teams has definitely improved this year. Yes, it’s early, but they special teams play has been solid. Nothing spectacular, but not horrible like the past few years either. Overton has replaced Snow seamlessly. I’m assuming so, since his name hasn’t come up that much. That’s a good thing for a snapper. Snow seems to have found a home with the Redskins, joining former teammate Garcon.
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