The draft has come and gone and all eyes are on the start of mini camp and eventually training camp. The Colts did a good job of addressing some needs in free agency and in the draft, but still have some holes left. What are those holes and what is the biggest remaining need(s)?
Linebacker
Zaire Franklin might be a tackling machine, but he’s been a liability in many other areas, including his coverage and his numbers are inflated by a strong defensive line that make things easier for a linebacker to dissect the run and make plays on it. His antics, specifically with his podcast, attracted a lot of unwanted negative attention, which puts his job in some jeopardy over the next couple of seasons. Next to him is Jaylon Carlies, an athletic linebacker with safety experience (in college). He is inexperienced in the NFL and may not be the right fit as a starter for the team. Behind them are Joe Bachie, Segun Olubi and some others. Bachie is a good rotational backup and special teamer and fills the spot left by Grant Stuard.
In my opinion, the Colts need a reliable coverage linebacker in this group. The defense will shift to more defensive back base defenses (as shown by the multiple signings and drafting of secondary players), so the need for a linebacker is not as important as it used to be, but they need a versatile, coverage first playmaking linebacker.
Quarterback
The Colts made a move for Daniel Jones and that’s enough for now as they still need to play out the Anthony Richardson project. If the Colts receive decent quarterback play, they are likely a playoff team. The narrative all summer will be about Richardson vs Jones and for the sake of the team, they better hope Richardson wins, as everyone knows what Daniel Jones’ ceiling is and it’s not very high.
Interior Offensive Line
The Colts lost Ryan Kelly and Will Fries to the Vikings this offseason and they are replacing them in house. In the draft, the Colts selected Jalen Travis who looks to be the long-term replacement to Braden Smith at right tackle. While it was a good move for that spot, it doesn’t necessarily address what’s going on inside. The Colts aren’t necessarily screwed with Tanor Bortolini and Matt Goncalves at center and right guard, but there are a lot of unknowns and on top of that there is no depth or security behind them. Even if both of them succeed, if anyone along the line has an injury, let alone someone on the inside, there will be a massive drop off to the backups.
Interior Defensive Line Depth
Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner are studs, but there isn’t a lot behind them. Neville Gallimore, Tim Smith and Adetomiwa Adebawore aren’t exactly strong rotational players. Tyquan Lewis has the ability to play inside, but the Colts need a true versatile number 3 defensive tackle that they could use 20-25% of the game. The best teams in the league have defensive line depth and the Colts need to find reliable guys to take the pressure off of Buckner and Stewart.
Kicker
The Colts got rid of Matt Gay, whom I predicted would be a cap casualty, due to his inability to hit 50+ yard field goals. While the move saves some money and allows the Colts to target a better kicker, the only two kickers on the roster are very inexperienced with Shrader only having 4 games of playing experience (going 5/5 on field goals and 9/9 on extra points). So like the other spots, this is a complete unknown. Shrader or Trujillo might be alright, but no one knows so if they underperform, the Colts are stuck. I’m not a fan of taking a chance on unknowns.
Ranking of Needs:
- Linebacker (Versatile coverage based LB)
- Kicker
- Quarterback
- Interior Offensive Line
- Interior Defensive Line Depth