With training camp on the horizon, which position groups for the Indianapolis Colts have the biggest question marks at this time?
We saw GM Chris Ballard take a more aggressive approach this offseason by signing Charvarius Ward and Cam Bynum in free agency, which reshaped the secondary. However, not every need can be addressed in an offseason either–there’s only so much salary cap space and draft capital to go around.
So players come, players go, and teams have to bank on the internal development of their young players to elevate and take on larger roles. That, of course, isn’t to say things won’t work out, but until we see some of these players on the field, there will be unknowns.
On the flip side, for a look at the Colts’ three most improved positions this offseason, you can find that here. Now, let’s dive into the question marks.
Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones at quarterback
Let’s just get the obvious one out of the way. The Colts brought in Daniel Jones to compete with Anthony Richardson for the starting job. As Ballard has described, the competition can hopefully help raise the level of play of both Jones and Richardson, and therefore the play of the quarterback position.
Richardson would miss most of OTAs and all of minicamp with a shoulder injury, which led to Jones taking all the first-team reps during those practices. Shane Steichen was “very pleased” with what he saw from Jones.
The competition will pick back up in training camp, with Richardson saying he will be ready to go for those practices, although Jones does hold the upper hand currently with the additional reps he’s gotten. But almost regardless of who steps up or how good each of these quarterbacks plays over the summer, there’s going to be a level of uncertainty until we see it translate to the field on Sundays and do so consistently.
Tanor Bortolini, Matt Goncalves, and the interior offensive line
This is one of those instances where not everyone can be re-signed, so Ryan Kelly and Will Fries ended up in Minnesota as free agents, and the Colts are banking heavily on the internal development of their second-year linemen.
When called upon last season, which included five starts, Bortolini held his own. However, he is still a relatively inexperienced player at a demanding position, where a lot is put on this player’s plate both pre-snap and in the run game within Shane Steichen’s offense.
Goncalves, meanwhile, is making a position change. During his college career, he played just 44 snaps at guard and only had one regular-season snap as a rookie at that position. But what gives the Colts confidence that he can make that move is that Goncalves practiced at guard often last season and improved as the year went on.
With inexperience comes unknowns, however, and the play of these two will play an important role in dictating how good this Colts’ offense can be. Consistent success for any offense begins up front with the offensive line providing a run game to lean on and time in the pocket for the quarterback.
Defensive tackle depth
DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart form one of the better defensive tackle duos in the game, but at a heavily rotated position like defensive tackle, where four or sometimes five players see regular snaps, good depth is a must and that’s an area where the Colts were lacking last season.
To improve the play behind Buckner and Stewart, Ballard didn’t re-sign Taven Bryan, and he released Raekwon Davis. He then signed Neville Gallimore, drafted Tim Smith, and brought back Eric Johnson on waivers. This trio will join Adetomiwa Adebawore, who is entering his third NFL season.
There are new options to compete for that playing time, but how things shake out here, playing time and performance-wise behind Buckner and Stewart, remains to be seen.
Linebacker experience
After you get past Zaire Franklin on the depth chart, there is little experience at this position group for the Colts. Jaylon Carlies, the presumed starter next to Franklin, has the second-most defensive snaps at the linebacker position with just 242.
As we mentioned when discussing Bortolini and Goncalves, with inexperience comes question marks.
Working in the Colts’ favor here is that they do have a strong track record under Ballard of developing this position. Also, Lou Anarumo’s defensive scheme can help this unit as well. The greater reliance on defensive backs in this system can have the linebackers operating closer to the line of scrimmage more often, and the heavy usage of disguised coverages can put the linebackers in advantageous situations.
In addition to that, pairing Carlies–and his coverage abilities as a former college safety–with Franklin can be a good match with their differing skill sets.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: 4 Position groups for Indianapolis Colts with question marks heading into training camp
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
