Colts' Most Important Players Rank Low According to ESPN
The core of an NFL team is the bundle of players that keep everything held together for the franchise at that moment. Well, in a recent piece from ESPN’s Seth Walder titled “Ranking NFL Roster Cores: Stacking All 32 Team’s Top Five Players,” the Indianapolis Colts ranked 30th out of the possible 32.
With the top five Colts players the subject of this piece, let’s get into Walder’s reasoning behind throwing the Colts no favors in his evaluation.
The five players that Walder highlights are quarterback Anthony Richardson, wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., left guard Quenton Nelson, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, and linebacker Shaquille Leonard in his description of the 30th entry.
Walden states, “This is a tough group to figure out. Injuries forced Leonard out for most of last season, and Nelson wasn’t close to the same player he has been in the past, with a 91% pass block win rate at guard that ranked 41st out of 63 qualifiers. But of all the wild cards, we’re burying the lede in regard to Richardson. The Colts’ season -- and future -- will rest on his shoulders more than anyone else’s. Note that running back Jonathan Taylor also could have made this list.”
To place the Colts lower on this list is fair, but to place their five-man core only two spots from dead last is a bit of a stretch. Yes, Richardson is a raw quarterback and will show that at times if he gets the Week 1 nod, but the Washington Commanders have a massive quandary at the most important spot in their quarterback, yet they finish 28th.
The Houston Texans, while they’ll likely have a stout defense with new head coach DeMeco Ryans, were still gashed in the ground game on that side of the ball and also have a rookie QB who will have a thin and unproven receiver corps. Still, they place at 29th in front of Indianapolis, which arguably has the more talented squad and five-man core.
Something else that is interesting is how Taylor misses this list. Yes, Pittman is indeed important, but Taylor will be in the backfield with Richardson and will be a massive weapon to help Richardson use his feet to hit defenses with RPOs, options, and QB-designed runs.
Richardson will need receiving weapons down the field, but the offense will still run exclusively through the 2021 NFL rushing leader Taylor. To me, it’s a no-brainer to put him at the forefront of the five-man core.
Regardless of the prediction and the core of Indianapolis, they will need to prove to the analysts and experts that they are more worthy than 30th in placing on this list. It will take a strong mental connection from new head coach Shane Steichen to his young quarterback and offense to get everything moving like a well-oiled machine, thus, helping their defensive counterpart in the process. This was something that wasn’t present last season, as the Colts’ defense often was out on the field for prolonged amounts of time and had to win the games for the squad.
Outlook
As I’ve said many times before, it’s too early to make predictions that bear weight. However, it’s understandable that the unknown factor of the inexperienced Richardson helps with the Colts’ placement on this list.
Despite the rawness of the rookie QB, the Colts’ overall roster is good enough to be a bit higher, in my opinion.
Will there be a reason later on in the offseason to believe Indy should be moved up the list? We’ll just have to wait and see.
