|
I'm banking that the Colts have addressed the issues of depth that plauged them during an injury-ridden 2007 through the Draft.
Phillip Wheeler and Marcus Howard give the Colts two more pass rushers. Phillip Wheeler may not spend any time with his hand in the dirt as a down lineman, but Marcus Howard looks like Rober Mathis Part Deux and is even faster than both Mathis and Dwight Freeney. He will finally give the Colts a real pass rush rotation and insurance in the case of injuries like in 2007, which left Freeney on IR and Mathis hampered with injury to end the season.
The Colts picked up some TEs in the draft who should be a lot better in the open field, as well as down in the red zone, than Ben Utech. These guys will provide much needed depth at receiver (WR/TE), which will hopefully mean no more Moorehead or Fletcher in games. Jacob Tamme, who played some WR before moving to TE, could even be used as a big wide receiver rather than TE should Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, or Anthony Gonzalez get injured. I'm also waiting to see what Roy Hall, a big WR who spent his rookie season on IR, might be able to do. I was hoping to see the Colts get bigger at receiver, and it looks like they have accomplished that, albeit under the radar. We'll see how it pays off in the red zone in 2008.
The Colts picked up some of the top centers in the draft, though it is quite possible that one or more will wind up playing guard. Whether or not either winds up starting this season, they should provide some nice depth for an offensive line that really could have used it last year.
Now that the Colts look much more prepared to handle injury, I'm of course hoping that the law of averages will kick in for 2008, and the Colts will be relatively injury-free.
|